Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday hit out at a French manifesto calling for certain passages of the Koran to be removed in response to rising anti-Semitism, ''France Presse'' reports.
"Who are you to attack our scriptures? We know how vile you are," Erdogan said.
"Have they ever read their books, the Bible? Or the Torah?" Erdogan asked, referring to the Christian and Jewish holy books, adding: "If they had read them, they probably would want to ban the Bible."
An open letter, published on April 22 in Le Parisien newspaper and signed by nearly 300, argued verses of the Koran calling for the "murder and punishment of Jews, Christians and disbelievers" should be removed because they are "obsolete".
Signatories included former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and former prime minister Manuel Valls as well as intellectuals and other public figures.