It all started April 21, with news of the Manifesto against the New Anti-Semitism. The declaration, written by Philippe Val, former director of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, was signed by more than 250 intellectuals, artists and politicians, including former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The manifesto — which calls on theologians to delete Quranic verses that suggest the killing and punishment of Christians, Jews and non-believers — generated strong reactions among Muslims. Although the text does not explain how, the idea was that the abrogation of these parts of the Quran would lead to “French-style Islam.” Muslims in France and around the world reacted to the request by attempting to explain the verses within their historical contexts and dismissed the idea of removing sections as unacceptable.

Turkish reaction to the declaration came May 6, when Omer Celik, minister of EU affairs and chief negotiator for Turkish accession to the EU, posted a series of tweets in Turkish and in English criticizing the manifesto. He claimed the signatories of the document have an ideological affinity with the Islamic State. Turkish presidency spokesman Ibrahim Kalin posted two tweets, the first explaining the declaration and the second stating his view that the Quran cannot be altered and that if the West wants to solve the problem of anti-Semitism, the West should look at itself because the problem originated in Europe.

One of the strongest reactions came from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the May 8 parliamentary meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdogan delivered an angry speech not only against the declaration and its signatories, but also aimed at France and the West generally, calling them “despicable.” To his nonstop cheering fans, the president said:

An impertinent group appeared in France the other day and issued a declaration asking for some verses to be removed from the Quran. It is so obvious that those who say that have no idea what the Quran is, but have they ever read their own book, the Bible? Or the Torah? Or Psalms? If they had read it, they would probably want the Bible to be banned as well. But they never have such a problem. The more we warn Western countries about hostility to Islam, hostility to Turks, xenophobia and racism, the more we get a bad reputation. Hey the West! Look! … The more you attack our holy book, we will not attack yours. But we will knock you down. Who are you to attack our holy scriptures? We know how despicable you are.