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Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan asked his compatriots to stop buying French goods on Monday in the latest expression of anger in the Muslim world over images being displayed in France of the Prophet Mohammad, which some Muslims consider blasphemous.
In Bangladesh on Monday, protesters held placards with a caricature of French President Emmanuel Macron and the words: “Macron is the enemy of peace”, while Pakistan’s parliament passed a resolution urging the government to recall its envoy from Paris.

Erdogan, who has a history of fraught relations with Macron, said France was pursuing an anti-Islam agenda.

“I am calling to all my citizens from here to never help French brands or buy them,” Erdogan said.

The Turkish president has made similar boycott calls in the past, including an appeal not to buy U.S. electronic goods in 2018 that was not followed through.

Erdogan on Monday joined a chorus of voices calling for a boycott. In Kuwait city, a supermarket had stripped its shelves of L’Oreal cosmetics and skincare products after the cooperative union to which it belongs decided to stop stocking French goods.

In Saudi Arabia, calls for a boycott of French supermarket chain Carrefour were trending on social media, though two stores Reuters visited in the Saudi capital on Monday seemed as busy as normal. A company representative in France said it had yet to feel any impact.

France is a major exporter of grain to mainly-Muslim North Africa, and French companies in the autos and retail sector also have significant exposure to majority-Muslim countries

French Trade Minister Franck Riester said it was too early to put a figure on the impact of the boycott campaign but so far it was limited and mainly affected French agricultural exports. (Reuters)