Photos of Turkey’s First Lady with Hermes bag surfaces amid calls for French goods boycott
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Photos of Turkey’s First Lady with Hermes bag surfaces amid calls for French goods boycott

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had called for the boycott amid a widening rift with France following President Macron stating that Islam was a religion in crisis all over the world.

Kairvy Grewal    
File photo of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan | Twitter | @HelenaDaZeus

File photo of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan | Twitter | @HelenaDaZeus

New Delhi: A day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a boycott of all French goods, old photos of First Lady Emine Erdogan carrying a bag manufactured by French company Hermes surfaced on social media Tuesday.

The call for boycott of French goods had come amid a widening rift between Turkey and France over President Emmanuel Macron’s speech earlier this month, in which he claimed that Islam was a religion in crisis all over the world.

Users on Twitter shared images of Emine carrying a Hermes handbag, that reportedly costs around $50,000 (Rs 36.8 lakh approximately). Hermes is a high fashion luxury goods manufacturer that was established in 1837 in France.

In a televised speech Monday, Erdogan had said, “I call on my people here. Never give credit to French-labelled good, don’t buy them.” He also alleged that Macron has “lost his mind” and that he had a problem with Muslims.

Macron’s tough stance over Islam came after a French teacher, Samuel Paty, was recently killed after he allegedly showed two cartoons of Prophet Muhammad to his students.  According to reports, Paty’s killer had contacts with Islamist fighters in Syria.

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‘Handbag bought by Turkish taxpayer’

The First Lady was criticised for carrying the same expensive bag last year as well when the country was trying to recover from a currency crisis. She was spotted holding the bag after her arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo with President Erdogan.

The same photo is now circulating on social media.

Francois Heisbourg, senior adviser for Europe at the Institute for Strategic Studies, called Emine out for using an expensive bag that the “Turkish taxpayer” bought her.

Many users have similarly pointed out her use of a French handbag.

One user even said that President Erdogan should advise his wife to throw the bag away.

 

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