French magazine Charlie Hebdo has once again gone after Turkey’s Erdogan: What is it now?

The latest issue of the controversial French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is out and it features a cartoon of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Three days after the Turkish elections, the magazine published its weekly issue on Wednesday, and it featured the presidential candidate exposed and being shocked by an electric bulb. The French magazine — which has courted many controversies — is continuing to receive negative criticism on social media. Let’s take a closer look at the matter. Charlie Hebdo’s latest cover On the cover of Wednesday’s issue of the magazine, President Erdogan is depicted in a bathtub. It makes a reference to the French singer Claude François, sometimes known as Cloclo, who died at the age of 39 from electrocution in a bathtub. The caption of the drawing read, “Like Cloclo, only fate will save us from him.” The magazine’s cover was published after Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday. Most surveys prior to Sunday’s election had Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the opposition, ahead of Erdogan. However, the president outperformed Kilicdaroglu by five per cent points, narrowly missing an outright victory in the first round. Also read: Iran Revolutionary Guards threaten French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo with terror attack over their cartoons The anger over the cartoon The now-under-fire cartoon has triggered strong reactions from Turkish officials, who slammed the publication for its cover as Erdogan was getting ready to compete in a run-off election at the end of the month to extend his 20 years in power. Vice President Fuat Oktay condemned the cover, reiterating the significance of the run-off. He said, “I strongly condemn Charlie Hebdo’s targeting of our President and the will of the Turkish nation under the guise of freedom of expression. Our nation and we, too, can see who, where and how they were bothered by the success of our President on 14 May. Our beloved nation will give the necessary answer to this mentality once again on 28 May.”

Turkish Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said in a lengthy tweet, “Publications like Charlie Hebdo, whose only motivation is to spew hate against Islam, continue to target our President Erdogan clearly because he is one of the most consequential Muslim leaders in modern times. We will not fall into their trap but we will continue to call out their disgusting xenophobia that they try to sell as freedom of expression."

Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s adviser, tweeted that the second round of presidential voting on 28 May would prove how popular the incumbent is. He wrote, “If the Charlie Hebdo rag went so crazy … we’re on the right path. Evil is like this sometimes. It guides the good. Don’t worry CH. Our nation will give you the best answer, with an even louder voice, on 28 May.”

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, chimed in on the chorus of Charlie Hebdo critics, labelling the magazine “inhumane.” He said, “The inhumane, ignoble Charlie Hebdo continues to insult the Turkish Nation. Let us not forget! Those who praise evil always drown in their own hatred and mischief. The real lesson is that those who cannot defeat the free will of the Turkish Nation with various games are desperately relying on fate.”

Also read: ‘All is forgiven’: Charlie Hebdo’s new cover shows Prophet Muhammad holding ‘Je Suis Charlie’ sign Other controversial cartoons on Turkey For many years, Charlie Hebdo has been a source of controversy. Anger has been raised by its anti-Muslim elements, particularly the Prophet Muhammad caricatures . The magazine has also lately made fun of the terrible earthquakes in Turkey in February that lost more than 50,000 lives. Pierrick Juin’s cartoon of leaning buildings and piles of debris with the caption “No need to send tanks,” was featured in the satirical magazine on 6 February. The cartoon was shared on Twitter with the heading “cartoon of the day.”

Many stated that the art was mocking the countless victims of the powerful quake, with others calling it vile, racist, and immensely insensitive. Others referred to the artwork as ugly, racist, and incredibly insensitive and claimed that it made fun of the countless people who had died in the devastating earthquake. Omar Suleiman, an American Muslim academic and civil rights activist with the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, tweeted in response to the cartoon that it “dehumanises” Muslims as victims in “every way.” Many Turks criticising the magazine claimed that they had organised marches in support of “Je Suis Charlie” when its headquarters had been attacked in 2015 only to be punished in this way. Erdogan was featured on the main page of Charlie Hebdo in 2020, where he was shown pulling the skirt of a woman wearing a hijab (headscarf) and seemed to be drinking. The caption of the caricature was “Erdogan: He’s very funny in private.” Slamming the magazine, the President said, “I don’t need to say anything to those scoundrels who insult my beloved prophet on such a scale.” He told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party, “My sadness and anger is not because of this disgusting attack against me, but because the very same media is the source of impudence against our beloved prophet whom we hold so dear.” The cartoon had fuelled the raging tensions between France and Turkey as Erdogan had called for a boycott of French products and questioned French president Emmanuel Macron’s sanity after he said, “Islam is a religion that is in crisis today all over the world.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .