Turkey’s Erdogan sues extremist Dutch politician over insulting cartoon

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filed a criminal lawsuit against a far-right Dutch politician for posting an insulting cartoon of him on Twitter.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday that Erdogan’s lawyer had filed the complaint against Geert Wilders with the Ankara prosecutor’s office for “insulting the president,” which constitutes a crime under Turkish law.

Invoking the 104th article of Turkey’s constitution, the complaint said that Erdogan represented the Turkish people and the country and any offense against him would be considered an offense against his office and not just himself.

Wilders, whose far-right Freedom party (PVV) is the biggest opposition force in the Dutch parliament, on Saturday shared a cartoon of Erdogan wearing a bomb-shaped hat that featured the logo of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), along with the headline “terrorist.”

Reacting to the insult at the weekend, Erdogan said, “There is this so-called Dutch deputy who speaks ill of us. Unlike him, we don’t condone racism, and fascists have no place in Turkey.”

“Fascism is not in our book, it’s in your book. Social justice is in our book,” the Turkish president said. “The forces that make the world uninhabitable have put us on the target board because we disrupt their games and reveal their true faces.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also condemned the cartoon, saying, “The racist losers of Europe have shown their true colors when faced with reality.”

Separately, the Turkish president lashed out at his French counterpart this weekend for supporting blasphemous cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in France and making anti-Islam comments.

President Erdogan questioned Emmanuel Macron’s mental health and expressed support for a boycott of French goods.

Macron’s backing of the sacrilegious cartoons has sparked widespread backlash from Muslims across the world.

Macron’s Islamophobia unleashes waves of protest, boycott, diplomatic rebuke in Muslim world

Anger is boiling across the Muslim world after French President Emmanuel Macron publicly defended the publication of derogatory cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Europe reacts to Erdogan’s call for boycott of French goods

Meanwhile, the European Commission said Tuesday that Erdogan’s support for a boycott of French goods was a further setback to his country’s bid to join the European Union (EU).

“Calls for boycott of products of any member state are contrary to the spirit of these obligations and will take Turkey even further away from the European Union,” a commission spokesman said.

Turkish president urges boycott of French goods

‘As it has been said in France,

The European Commission, which oversees the EU application process, also warned that an official boycott would breach the terms of Turkey’s trade relationship with the bloc.

“EU agreements with Turkey foresee free trade of goods,” the spokesman said. “The bilateral obligations that Turkey has committed to under these agreements, as expressed in the Association Agreement, the Customs Union and the agricultural and coal and steel FTAs (free trade agreements), should be fully respected.”

Turkey applied to join the then-European Economic Community in 1987 and began formal accession talks to the EU in 2005, but the bid has long been stalled amid disagreements over a number of issues.

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