FM Çavuşoğlu hits back at Macron for defending Le Point magazine on Erdoğan poster

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Tuesday lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron for defending a French magazine that drew criticism by Turkish people after labeling President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan "The Dictator" on its front cover.

Çavuşoğlu quoted a tweet sent by Macron earlier Tuesday in which the French president criticized a group of Turkish people attempting to remove the magazine at newsstands.

"It is utterly unacceptable that posters of @LePoint should be withdrawn from newspaper kiosks on the grounds that they displease the enemies of freedom, in France or abroad," Macron tweeted.

Çavuşoğlu lashed out at Macron and said: "Democracy is not just limited to accepting insults, curses and lies by one side but also taking into account the point of view and sensitivities of the other. What goes beyond that is hypocrisy."

The Turkish minister said the Turkish community's democratic and civilian reaction is against this approach.

News magazine Le Point's cover this week showed Erdoğan with the headline "The Dictator."

A smaller heading added: "How far will Erdoğan go? ... His delusions of grandeur, his networks in France, his offensive against Algeria, his crimes..."

The magazine also published an editorial drawing comparing the Turkish president and former German dictator Adolf Hitler.