Erdogan sues French magazine

Mahmud Mohamadi

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan filed a legal complaint in Turkey over a cover story in the October 24 issue of French magazine Le Point, which described him as “The Eradicator,” AFP revealed.

Erodgan’s lawyer filed the complaint against the magazine’s publisher, Etienne Gernelle, and journalist Romain Gubert to the chief prosecutor in Ankara, alleging that they insulted the president, the French news agency quoted the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency as reporting on Friday.

The magazine’s cover uses a photo of the Turkish leader giving a soldier’s salute, with a tagline that reads, “Ethnic cleansing, Ergodan style,” and a second tagline that asks, “Will we let him massacre the Kurds (and threaten Europe)?”

The crime of insulting the president carries a prison sentence of as much as four years and eight months in Turkey.

Turkey’s Western allies slammed its invasion of northeastern Syria and expressed concern that this invasion would change the demographic makeup of this part of Syria.

They also expressed fears that the invasion would create a new wave of refugees in Europe.

Ceaseless criticism

Western media accused Turkey of carrying out ethnic cleansing in the areas the Turkish army and allied militia enter in Syria.

French President Emmanuel Macron is a staunch opponent of the Turkish operation. Macron described the operation earlier as “crazy”.

The French president even said that he is frustrated at the failure of NATO to bring Turkey to account.

Turkey has been launching the operation since October 9. The operation has given rise to fears from the escape of thousands of Islamic State terrorists in Kurdish jails and camps.