Erdogan questions Macron's "mental health" and denounces his attacks on Islam

French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has questioned the "mental health" of French President Emmanuel Macron, as he believes he has attacked Islam in response to the murder of a history teacher outside Paris for showing caricatures of Muhammad.

"What problem does Macron have with Islam and Muslims? He needs mental health treatment," Erdogan said this Saturday during an act of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Kayseri, in central Turkey.

"What can you say to a head of state who treats millions of members of a religious minority this way in his country? First, a mental test," he added. Erdogan has even predicted that Macron will lose the 2022 elections "because he has not achieved anything for France."

Erdogan thus responds to a speech in which Macron criticized "Islamist separatism" which he said was threatening to take control in some Muslim communities around France.  In the speech, Macron announced compulsory schooling from the age of 3 and the ban on home schooling except for health reasons, all to avoid "indoctrination" against Republican values.

In response to Erdogan, the Elysee Palace has described these words as "unacceptable" after the "very offensive statements in recent days (by Erdogan), in particular on the call for a boycott of French products."

"Indignation and rudeness are not forms. We demand that Erdogan change the course of his policy because it is dangerous from all points of view. We do not enter into unnecessary controversies and we do not accept insults," the statement from the Gallic Presidency. In addition, Paris has announced the call for consultations of its ambassador in Ankara, Hervé Magro.

The Elysee also highlighted "the absence of a message of condolences and support from the Turkish president after the assassination of Samuel Paty", who was killed in an Islamist attack.

The beheading on October 16 of Professor Samuel Paty has shocked France, where more than 250 people have been killed in attacks by extremist Islamists in recent years. After the attack, 27 people have been arrested.