The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo came under fire from top Turkish officials today after putting Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on its cover with the caption “Only death will allow us to get rid of him.” The cartoon shows the Turkish leader convulsing in a bathtub in his birthday suit as he touches a live lightbulb — the emblem of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“One of the biggest centers of provocation, insults and blasphemy in world media, the ugly publication Charlie Hebdo, has again proved how disgusting it is with its latest inhumane caricature of our president,” fumed Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan’s communications director, in a series of tweets denouncing the weekly.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu chimed in as well. “Shameless Charlie Hebdo has yet to possess an ounce of humanity [and] continues to insult the Turkish people,” the top diplomat said on his Twitter page.
Attacked by terrorists three times for its irreverent depictions of the Prophet Mohammed, the weekly was alluding to Erdogan’s victory in Sunday’s landmark presidential and parliamentary polls. The illustration will have hit an even rawer nerve with the opposition. Many were left feeling that Turkey’s strongman, who has enjoyed more than two decades of uninterrupted power, will die in his bed while in office.
