The French "Total" fuel station in the "Kucukcekmece" area in Istanbul receives its customers from motorists and vehicles without any change to its work system until today, but its future is judged after only two days of calls by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to boycott French goods Still early.

The fuel station is one of the popular French companies and commercial goods, which Turkish activists have published on social networking sites with the names of dozens of them, calling for a boycott in response to French attitudes towards Islam and the insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace.

One of the Turkish citizens - who stopped inside the gas station to supply his car with fuel - said that he did not prefer to fill it from the French station, but he was forced to do so due to his need for petrol and after the other stations from him.

He added to Al-Jazeera Net that "the French media's attack on Islam" is unacceptable, considering the economic boycott "an effective weapon capable of obliging anyone who attacks Muslims their borders."

Long list

In addition to Total, the boycott list includes the names of major stores, including Carrefour, Indy, Air France, Air Bus, and French language centers. , As well as clothing and accessories brands;

Such as Pierre Cardin, Lacoste, and car companies;

Among them are Peugeot and Renault, and various computer companies, construction and production of pharmaceuticals and industrial products.

For her part, Sivda Chidar - a worker in the "Check Adam" store that sells imported clothes in the Halkali region - explained that the store's management had directed to withdraw all products from French fabric "in response to the loud boycott sounds in Turkey", adding that some customers expressed disgust with Displaying French apparel products as soon as the "offensive" crisis began and before the official calls for a boycott were launched.

Cheddar explained that the store is currently thinking of replacing the French product with other European products from countries that do not challenge the feelings of Muslims, and do not insult their prophet, who does not allow any Turkish to direct him any offense, according to her expression.

Calls to boycott French goods have gained momentum in Islamic countries (communication sites)

Street fury

In recent days, most Turkish cities have witnessed demonstrations in support of the Messenger - may God bless him and grant him peace - and a condemnation of French President Emmanuel Macron's insult to Islam and Muslims, in conjunction with President Erdogan's call to stop buying French products in an official speech in the capital, Ankara, last Monday.

Participants in the demonstrations - which were called by Turkish unions and civil institutions - raised protest banners in Turkish and French condemning the French statements about the Islamic religion and calling for non-prejudice to sacred things.

4 parties represented in the Turkish Parliament issued a joint statement in response to Macron's recent statements about Islam, namely: the Justice and Development Party, the Republican People's Party, the National Movement Party and the Good Party.

Calls for boycotting French goods gained momentum in Islamic countries, as calls for boycotting and hashtags defending the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, spread very widely on social media.

Turkey leads the boycott

According to experts and observers, the boycott of French goods is gaining special importance in Turkey;

Due to the great openness in trade exchange between the two countries, France is one of the top 10 global exporters to Turkey, and the seventh largest importer of it.

However, they stressed that it is still difficult to judge the direct results of the boycott campaigns in Turkey and the Islamic world, despite the emergence of some signs of retreat in the French discourse that has recently made attempts to win over Muslims.

According to the researcher in international economics at the University of "Chukurova" Genghis Anar, the continuation of the boycotting steps for long periods of time would exhaust the French economy, which has essentially suffered from a contraction of more than 13% since the outbreak of the Corona virus epidemic in the first months of this year.

The researcher pointed out that Turkey is at the forefront of the boycott campaigns within the framework of the Islamic world's responses to Macron's attacks, which threatens to prolong this boycott.

Given Turkey's position in the Islamic world, and the opportunities for many countries to join it, in the footsteps of Kuwait and Qatar, in which the boycott began in practice.

Anar clarified - in an interview with Al Jazeera Net - that the French economy will be truly damaged if the Turkish boycott continues.

Given the high volume of French exports to Turkey, despite the tendency of the balance of trade exchanges between the two countries in the interest of Ankara, amounting to $ 1.1 billion last year.

The value of French direct investments in Turkey amounts to $ 5.4 billion (communication sites)

County prospects

According to data from the Turkish Statistics Agency, the value of trade between France and Turkey in 2019 exceeded $ 14.7 billion, including more than 6.8 billion French exports to Turkey compared to $ 7.9 billion Turkish exports to France.

During the first eight months, the volume of Turkish exports to France reached 4.2 billion dollars, while the volume of imports reached 3.9 billion dollars.

French exports to the Turkish market include aviation equipment imported by Turkish Airlines, equipment for operating automobile factories in Bursa, and influenza vaccines, which France is the first source of supply to the Turkish health sector.

Anar indicated that the export file represents only one of the Turkish-French economic exchanges, indicating that the value of French direct investments in Turkey amounts to $ 5.4 billion, and constitutes 3.3% of foreign investments in the country, with a total value of $ 163.5 billion.

Anar believed that Paris is calculating a lot of accounts for the Turkish boycott, and said that this clearly explains the statements of the French Trade Minister Franck Riester, who was surprised by Erdogan's calls to boycott his country's goods.

He said that Paris does not carry any agenda for economic rivalry, and that it is surprising that the tension resulting from the issue of the offensive fees is linked to the trade relations between the two countries.

And Anar expressed his belief that Paris would resort to calm and try to absorb Turkish anger.

In order to avoid the effects of the economic boycott that Paris does not have the ability to face, especially since the volume of Turkish investments in France is small, and does not exceed $ 160 million.