Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt's Al-Azhar Mosque condemn Charlie Hebdo's Mohammed cartoons

Several Muslim countries and institutions on Wednesday denounced the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's decision to reprint cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, with Turkey condemning French President Emmanuel Macron's "unacceptable" declaration of support.

Charlie Hebdo, a target of a 2015 massacre by IS-aligned gunmen, marked the start of the trial of 14 suspects in the attack by republishing cartoons it originally ran in 2006 which incited outrage across the Muslim world.

Turkey, a predominantly Muslim but officially secular country, joined Pakistan in officially condemning the cartoons' republication, and criticised Macron for defending the magazine's "freedom to blaspheme".

"We strongly condemn Charlie Hebdo magazine's decision to republish caricatures that disrespect our religion and our prophet," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement. 

"The efforts of French authorities, especially President Macron, to explain this within the context of the freedom of expression, are unacceptable," the ministry said, adding that the cartoons took "aim at our sacred values".

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Meanwhile Egypt's highest Muslim authority Al-Azhar said: "The insistence on the criminal act to republish these offensive cartoons embeds hate speech further and inflames the emotions of faithful followers of religions."

Al-Azhar, also considered the foremost religious institution for Sunni Muslims, said the contentious decision to reprint the caricatures was "an unjustified provocation of the emotions of nearly two billion Muslims around the world". 

Turkey's condemnation of Macron adds to the long list of disagreements between Ankara and Paris, which are on opposite sides of the conflict in Libya and at odds over maritime rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

Twelve people, including some of France's most celebrated cartoonists, were killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack, which came during a three-day killing spree in the Paris area that claimed 17 lives.

Fourteen people accused of helping jihadist gunmen storm the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket went on trial Wednesday, under m under heavy security.

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