A group of around 80 Muslims, mostly comprised of migrants from Egypt and Syria, tore down the French flag at the country’s embassy in Cyprus this week.
The Muslim group held a demonstration in front of the French embassy in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, on Tuesday night and chanted slogans in response to measures taken by French President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty.
According to a report from newspaper Proto Thema, the group also shouted slogans direct against the President of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, who has expressed support for the French leader.
In particular, Anastasiades was critical of the Turkish call to boycott French products and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments that labelled President Macron as being mentally unwell.
Cyprus Now Receiving Most Migrants Per Capita in Europe https://t.co/xu1A29bgfB
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 9, 2019
“This attack on the French president by the leader of a country candidate for EU membership is a vulgar affront to the principles and values of the Union,” Anastasiades said. On Wednesday, he went on to condemn the attack on the French embassy.
Following the incident at the French embassy, Cypriot police arrested five people, four Egyptians and one Syrian aged between 20 and 31. Four were charged in connection to the removal of the French flag, while another was charged with assaulting a police officer.
The incident in Nicosia is just one of the several protests aginst France and Emmanuel Macron in recent days after the president made it clear his government would be cracking down on Islamists in France.
The tensions between France and Turkey escalated even further this week when satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo revealed its new cover, which depicts Turkish President Erdogan in his underwear looking at a woman’s bottom.
Erdogan stated on Wednesday that he would be seeking legal measures against the insulting cartoon, and stated: “I didn’t look at this cartoon (…) There is no need to say anything about these scoundrels.”
Indignant: Turkey on Warpath over New Charlie Hebdo Erdogan Cartoon https://t.co/UJ9eryKHPH
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 28, 2020
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.