Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Turkish citizens to boycott French goods in response to what he says is France’s “anti-Islam” agenda.
During a televised speech Monday, he also called for European Union countries to pressure France to end French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to fight what he called “Islamist separatism.” Macron has said separatism threatens to take over some Muslim communities in France.
"Never give credit to French-labeled goods. Don't buy them," Erdogan said, according to the BBC. He added that "European leaders should tell the French president to stop his hate campaign."
Tensions between the two NATO allies have risen in recent months as Macron vowed to defend secularism in the wake of the public beheading of a French teacher earlier this month by a Muslim militant over cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks after meeting with the medical staff of the Rene Dubos hospital center, in Pontoise, outside Paris, Oct. 23, 2020.
Macron called Islam a religion “in crisis,” the BBC reported, and announced measures to stem what he called separatism. France has the largest Muslim community in Western Europe.
Just how much of an impact a boycott would have remains to be seen. France is the 10th largest source of imports to Turkey. France is also Turkey’s seventh biggest market for exports, Reuters reported.
France and Turkey have also clashed recently over policy in Syria and Libya, as well as Turkish oil and gas exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. More recently, the two have been at odds over the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Presidente turco Tayyip Erdogan



O presidente turco, , disse aos cidadãos turcos que boicotassem os produtos franceses em resposta ao que ele diz ser a agenda "anti-Islã" da .

Durante um discurso televisionado na segunda-feira, ele também pediu aos países da  que pressionem a França a acabar com os esforços do presidente francês  para combater o que ele chamou de "separatismo islâmico". Macron disse que o separatismo ameaça tomar conta de algumas comunidades muçulmanas na França.

"Nunca dê crédito a bens de marca francesa. Não compre", disse Erdogan, segundo a BBC. Ele acrescentou que "os líderes europeus devem dizer ao presidente francês para parar sua campanha de ódio".

Tensões entre os dois aliados da   aumentaram nos últimos meses, quando Macron prometeu defender o secularismo na esteira da decapitação pública de um professor de francês no início deste mês por um militante muçulmano sobre desenhos animados que retratam o profeta .