France’s “colonial past” and “institutional racism” are responsible for the outbreak of urban violence in the country, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, expressing “concern” that recent events in France “will lead to oppression and an increase in the number of Muslims and migrants”. “, after a 17-year-old teenager was killed by a police officer, according to AFP.

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip ErdoganPhoto: Hiromi Uechi/AP/Profimedia

Erdogan compares the deaths of several hundred migrants at the end of June off the coast of Greece without help to the publicized disappearance of “five rich people who went to see the Titanic.”

Thus, he sees “signs of an arrogant, inhuman colonial mentality based on the supremacy of the white man”, “especially in countries known for their colonial past, where cultural racism turned into institutional racism (and is) at the origins of the event in France”, – he emphasizes he, reports News.ro.

“Of course,” Erdogan continues, “we do not tolerate shoplifting, and urban riots cannot serve the demands of justice,” but “it is clear that the authorities must draw conclusions from this social explosion.”

The Turkish president, who made the remarks on live television after a cabinet meeting, regularly denounces the “Islamophobia” he says is rampant in France.

“Unfortunately, most of the immigrants who are condemned to live in ghettos, (who are) systematically oppressed, are Muslims,” ​​Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasizes.

The Turkish press has been closely following the riots that broke out in France after Nakhel’s murder, especially the public broadcaster TRT, which never misses an opportunity to say that the French-born minor is “Algerian”.