Ankara - Turkey on Thursday condemned the publication by a French satirical magazine of a comic book biography of Islam's founder, and urged Muslims to ignore it.
“Some people see this as freedom of expression but swearing, insulting and showing disrespect for people's faith are not freedom of expression,” Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency.
Bozdag urged all Muslims to ignore “such provocateurs.”
Turkey's European Union Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis blasted the book as a “rag.”
Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly on Wednesday published “The Life of Mohammed”, whose cover shows a goofy-looking prophet leading a camel through the desert.
The editor of the magazine, which previously sparked international protests and saw its offices firebombed after it printed cartoons mocking Mohammed, insisted it is an educational work prepared by a sociologist using Islamic texts as its source material. - Sapa-AFP