“The Dictator. How far will Erdogan go?” – Le Point’s front page drew much attention over the weekend, as pro-Erdogan activists targeted newspaper kiosks in a bid to remove ads for the magazine.
“After a week of harassment, insults, intimidation and anti-Semitic slurs and threats towards us on social media, now has come the moment when supporters of the AKP [Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party] are attacking symbols of freedom of expression and diversity in the press,” Le Point wrote on its website.
TWEET: “After Avignon: other Turks remove Le Point’s front page on Erdogan here in Valence.”
The French weekly has also drawn parallels between the Turkish president and Adolf Hitler in an article entitled “Is Erdogan a new Hitler?” Le Point’s latest edition comes ahead of the presidential election in Turkey, set for June, with Erdogan running for a second term.
In March 2016, German comedian Jan Bohmermann recited a “Defamatory Poem” about Erdogan during his show on German broadcaster ZDF, accusing the Turkish president of bestiality and pedophilia in a satirical manner.