Several Dozen People Rally In Ankara To Support Boycott Of French Goods

Several Dozen People Rally in Ankara to Support Boycott of French Goods

The Confederation of Public Employees' Trade Unions staged a demonstration in Ankara on Tuesday to support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's calls for a boycott of French goods amid a row around cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad

ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2020) The Confederation of Public Employees' Trade Unions staged a demonstration in Ankara on Tuesday to support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's calls for a boycott of French goods amid a row around cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.

During last week's commemoration ceremony for beheaded French history teacher Samuel Paty, President Emmanuel Macron vowed to defend freedom of expression, including cartoons of Muhammad, and crack down on the Islamist threat and foreign influence on the Muslim religion within the country. His words drew ire of many Muslim countries. Some of them, including Turkey, have pushed for a boycott of French goods.

The trade union demonstration in the historic Ulus quarter in the heart of the Turkish capital drew several dozen people. They carried banners and chanted slogans: "Holy things are sacred, do not touch them," "Targeting faith is not freedom of speech, but rudeness" and "We love the prophet Muhammad very much."

"Macron, allegedly speaking for freedom of speech, is actually an accomplice of terrorism and hatred. I invite all our people to show consciousness and boycott French goods as a response to the actions of the French president," Ali Yalcin, the head of the trade union confederation, told the rally.

According to Yalcin, some European countries "are going through insanity, surrendering to Islamophobia and racism."

The police did not obstruct the rally, whose participants wore face masks and maintained social distance.