Erdogan lashes out at ‘provocative’ Charlie Hebdo

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday lashed out at Charlie Hebdo for its “provocative” publications about Islam, saying the French satirical weekly incited hatred and racism.

“This magazine [is] notorious for its provocative publications about Muslims, about Christians, about everyone,” Erdogan told a meeting of businessmen in Ankara.

“This is not called freedom. This equates to wreaking terror by intervening in the freedom space of others. We should be aware of this. There is no limitless freedom,” he said.

In its first issue since the attacks by Islamist gunmen last week on its headquarters that killed 12 people, the magazine featured an image of the Muslim prophet weeping on its front cover.

A man reads, in a newsroom in Paris, the latest issue of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 13, 2015 (photo credit: AFP/Bertrand Guay)

The cover sparked fresh controversy and protests in some parts of the Muslim world, where many find any depiction of the prophet, let alone satirical ones, highly offensive.

Erdogan said Muslims expected respect for their prophet Muhammad the same way as they valued other the prophets of Judaism and Christianity.

“They may be atheists. If they are, they will respect what is sacred to me,” said Erdogan.

“If they do not, it means provocation which is punishable by laws. What they do is to incite hatred, racism,” he added.