Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday vehemently criticized the attitude of his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron towards Muslims, going so far as to question his “Mental Health”.
“All that can be said of a head of state who treats millions of members of different religious communities in this way is: go for mental health examinations first,” Erdogan said. , in a televised speech.
Two weeks ago, Erdogan denounced as a provocation the declarations of the French president on “Islamist separatism” and the need to “structure Islam” in France.
A bill on the fight against “separatism” in France, which targets radical Islam, is due in early December. It aims to strengthen secularism and consolidate republican principles in France and includes several points likely to provoke tensions with Turkey, such as the reinforced control of mosque funding or the ban on the training of imams abroad.
This dispute comes on top of a long list of disagreements between Mr. Macron and his Turkish counterpart, who regularly defends Muslim minorities around the world.
Tensions in the Mediterranean to the conflict in Libya, through the clashes in Karabakh, many issues currently oppose Paris and Ankara.
