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Emmanuel Marcon is heavily criticized in Islamic countries
Photo: YOAN VALAT / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) defended the French head of state Emmanuel Macron in the conflict over freedom of expression and Islamism.
"As a Muslim, I feel offended by certain caricatures," the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargasch, told the "Welt".
"But as a thinking person, I see the politics that are carried out around this topic."
Gargasch criticized the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
He manipulates the issue because he wants to become the leader of Sunni Islam.
"In truth, this is a political project, not a theological one," said Gargasch.
The Sunni UAE, which recently established diplomatic relations with Israel, have considerable influence in the region, not least because of their oil wealth - and apparently see Erdoğan as a competitor.
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The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargasch, defends France in the conflict over the Mohammed cartoons
Photo: Kamran Jebreili / dpa
The Turkish president is spreading "the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood" and wants to rebuild the Ottoman Empire, said Gargasch.
"Like Iran, he has an imperialist policy and that is one of the main dangers in the region."
He referred to the Turkish military interventions in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
"And Turkey is expanding everywhere at the expense of the Arabs," he said.
Gargasch defended Macron.
"One should listen to what Macron really said in his speech," he said.
"He doesn't want Muslims in the West to be ghettoized and he's right."
France has the right to look for ways to integrate Muslims and fight militancy, he said.
Protests in Islamic countries
In Turkey and other Islamic countries, Macron triggered outrage because he affirmed that caricatures critical of religion were covered by freedom of expression.
The occasion was the murder of a French teacher who had shown caricatures of Mohammed in class and was then beheaded by a suspected Islamist.
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Tens of thousands of people in Bangladesh protested against cartoons of Mohammed in France
Photo: Md. Rakibul Hasan / imago images / ZUMA Wire
In Bangladesh, according to police reports, at least 50,000 protested on the streets of the capital Dhaka to protest the publication of Mohammed cartoons in France.
The participants called for a boycott of French goods, among other things.
Some protesters burned a doll representing Macron.
The Islamist group Hefasat-i-Islami called for the protest.
According to the police, people could be prevented from approaching the French embassy.
The organizers of the demonstration spoke of more than 100,000 participants.
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hba / dpa / AFP