Turkey has hit back at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo over its latest cover, which shows a caricature of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan electrocuted in a bathtub.
The magazine published its weekly issue on Wednesday, three days after the Turkish elections, and it features the presidential candidate stripped and hit by an electric light bulb.
The cover with the bright yellow and red cartoon reads “Erdogan: Like Cloclo, only fate will free us from him!”
Cloclo was the nickname of French pop singer Claude Francois, who died in 1978 when he electrocuted himself while trying to fix a light bulb in his bathtub.
Several Turkish officials criticized the publication for its cover as Erdogan prepared to compete in a runoff later this month to extend his 20 years in power.
“Publications like Charlie Hebdo, whose sole motivation is to spew hatred against Islam, continue to clearly target our President Erdogan because he is one of the most important Muslim leaders of modern times,” Turkish Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said in a long tweet.
“We will not fall into their trap but we will continue to call out their disgusting xenophobia that they try to sell as freedom of speech,” he said.
President Erdogan has always been a tireless advocate for regional stability and peace. He is a historical political figure with great contributions to global challenges. We deplore those who wish him ill in the strongest terms.
Publications like Charlie Hebdo, the only…
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) May 17, 2023
Ibrahim Kalin, an adviser to Erdogan, also said in a tweet that the second round of the presidential vote on May 28 would show how popular the incumbent is.
“If the Charlie Hebdo rag went so crazy … we’re on the right track,” he said. “Our nation will give you the best answer, with an even stronger voice, on May 28.”
Now that the Charlie Hebdo rag has gone so crazy…let’s get on the right track.
Evil is like that sometimes. Guide the good.
Don’t worry CH.
Our nation will give you the best answer, with a stronger voice, on May 28.
🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷
— İbrahim Kalın (@ikalin1) May 17, 2023
Translation: “If the Charlie Hebdo rag went so crazy… we’re on the right track. Evil is like that sometimes. Guide the good. Don’t worry CH. Our nation will give you the best answer, with an even louder voice, on May 28.”
Vice President Fuat Oktay also condemned the cover and reiterated the importance of the second round.
I strongly condemn Charlie Hebdo’s targeting of our president and the will of the Turkish nation under the guise of freedom of expression.
Our nation and we both see who, where, and how our President’s May 14th success disrupted them.
This is…
— Fuat Oktay (@fuatoktay) May 17, 2023
Translation: “I strongly condemn Charlie Hebdo’s targeting of our president and the will of the Turkish nation under the guise of freedom of expression. Our nation and we too can see who, where and how our president’s success on May 14 upset them. Our dear nation will give the necessary response to this mentality once again on May 28”.
Heading into Sunday’s election, most opinion polls showed Erdogan trailing opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, but the president edged Kilicdaroglu by 5 percentage points and narrowly missed out on victory in the first round
Erdogan’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, joined the chorus of criticism against Charlie Hebdo, calling the publication “inhumane.”
The infamous Charlie Hebdo, which has not had its fair share of humanity, continues to insult the Turkish nation.
Do not forget! They praise evil, always drowning in their own hatred and wickedness.
The real lesson is that those who could not defeat the free will of the Turkish nation with various games…
— Mevlut Cavusoglu (@MevlutCavusoglu) May 17, 2023
Translation: “The inhuman and ignoble Charlie Hebdo continues to insult the Turkish nation. Let’s not forget! Those who praise evil always drown in their own hatred and wickedness. The real lesson is that those who cannot defeat the free will of the Turkish nation with several games are hopelessly trusting in fate.”
Charlie Hebdo has been causing controversy for years. Its content aimed at the Muslim world in particular has incited anger, notably its cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
The magazine had also recently covered Turkey’s devastating February earthquakes, which killed more than 50,000 people.
