In a speech given to supporters in the western Turkish city of Sakarya, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan invoked the medieval religious wars between Christian Europe and the Islamic Middle East in the context of present-day escalating tensions between the European Union and Turkey.
"My dear brothers, a battle has started between the cross and the half moon. There can be no other explanation," Erdogan said on Thursday.
The Turkish president also stated the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) Tuesday ruling, which permits companies to ban the Islamic headscarf as part of policies barring religious symbols in the workplace, was the start of a "crusade" by Europe. » | cmb/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters) | Friday, March 17, 2017
