Turkish Consul General Cemil Yıldırım has removed a photo showing him making a jihadist gesture during his visit with Lyon’s Archbishop after it attracted significant criticism.
At the end of his visit to Archbishop Mgr Olivier de Germay in Lyon on 7 May, Turkish Consul General Yıldırım subtly pointed his index finger downward in a gesture during the photo session—a symbol widely recognised for its association with jihadist ideology. This gesture, used by extremist groups like ISIS, sparked immediate backlash, leading the consulate to quickly delete the photo from their social media platforms.
Journalist Altan Sancar was the first to highlight the inappropriate gesture made by the Turkish diplomat by quote-tweeting the subsequently deleted post. “The sorry state of our foreign service encapsulated in a single photo frame. Cemil Çağdaş Yıldırım, sent to represent our country as a diplomat and expected to resolve crises, stood ahead to avoid standing next to the Archbishop and even chose to raise his index finger and not button his jacket. This is what has become of the service by constantly deriding them as ‘monşer’,” he commented.
The term “monşer” is a colloquial Turkish expression derived from the French phrase “mon cher“, meaning “my dear”. In Turkey, “monşer” is often used pejoratively to refer to individuals perceived as Westernised, secular, elitist or overly intellectual. It is widely used by the ruling AKP in domestic politics to degrade its secular rivals.
The incident demonstrates the Erdoğan administration’s shift from traditional diplomatic norms to an ideologically driven approach. This shift, particularly notable after the 2016 coup attempt, led to significant changes within the diplomatic corps, favouring individuals with intelligence backgrounds over those who follow conventional diplomatic practices.
The timing of Yıldırım’s appointment in Lyon coincides with an increase in anti-Kurdish and anti-Armenian marches by Turks in France, including Lyon, starting in 2020, the same year Yıldırım seems to have begun his tenure there.
