A group of around 80 Muslims, mostly comprised of migrants from Egypt and Syria, tore down the French flag at the country’s embassy in Cyprus this week.
The Muslim group held a demonstration in front of the French embassy in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, on Tuesday night and chanted slogans in response to measures taken by French President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty.
According to a report from newspaper Proto Thema, the group also shouted slogans direct against the President of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, who has expressed support for the French leader.
In particular, Anastasiades was critical of the Turkish call to boycott French products and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments that labelled President Macron as being mentally unwell.
“This attack on the French president by the leader of a country candidate for EU membership is a vulgar affront to the principles and values of the Union,” Anastasiades said. On Wednesday, he went on to condemn the attack on the French embassy.