Turkey’s president on Monday believed France’s “colonial past” and “institutional racism” are at the root of the urban riots recorded in the country and expressed fears that they would lead to “increased repression of Muslims and migrants”.
In statements broadcast on television after a meeting of the Turkish government, Recep Tayyip Erdogan linked the violence seen in France in recent days between protesters and police forces to the “colonial mentality”, when it was a week ago on Tuesday that a teenager by a police officer, an incident that sparked protests in several cities across the country.
“Especially in countries known for their colonial past, cultural racism has become institutional racism. At the root of the events initiated in France is the social architecture built by this mindset”Erdogan added.
“The majority of migrants who are systematically oppressed and condemned to live in slums and ghettos are Muslims”continued Erdogan, who has presented himself as a defender of Muslim migrants in Europe.
Comparing the deaths of hundreds of migrants off the Greek coast in late June, and deprived of aid, to the mediatized disappearance of the “five rich people who went to the Titanic and died,” Erdogan criticized what he called “a sign of the colonial mentality, arrogant, inhumane, based on the superiority of the white man”.
Despite emphasizing that Turkey does not condone the destruction of public property or the looting of institutions, Erdogan assured that “unfortunately, violence gave way to violence and gave rise to the protests”.
“We are also concerned that these incidents will trigger a new wave of repression against Muslims and migrants. Turks have paid the highest price for Islamophobia.”assured the Turkish leader, without adding further details.
Several venues for the Olympic events, especially in Ile-de-France, are in the heart of sensitive neighborhoods, where tensions are rising following the death of 17-year-old de Nahel, shot by a police officer during a traffic operation.
In five consecutive nights of rioting until Sunday morning, some 5,000 vehicles were set on fire, nearly 1,000 buildings destroyed, 250 police stations were attacked and more than 700 members of the security forces were attacked.
Recorded by an amateur video that contradicts the initial police story, the shot fired by an officer at the young man in Nanterre (on the outskirts of Paris) on June 27 shocked the country and sparked a wave of violence. , and reverberated far beyond the French borders.
The disturbances caused by the incident in Nanterre have led to the arrest of more than 3,200 people across France in recent nights, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said during a visit to the city of Reims.
The Turkish media followed the riots closely, in particular the public television channel TRT, which kept pointing out that the French-born teenager was “Algerian”.
The police officer suspected of the young man’s death is charged with murder and is in jail.
Source: DN
