French mayor accused of stigmatizing Turkish community for criticism of 30-car wedding convoy

Mayor of the French district of Laigneville, Christophe Dietrich was accused of targeting the Turkish community after his criticism of a 30-car wedding convoy that violated a multitude of traffic regulations, Euronews reported on Sept. 23.

Friday September 24 2021 02:06 pm

Duvar English

Mayor of the French district of Laigneville, Christophe Dietrich was accused of stigmatizing the Turkish community for slamming a group of Turks who formed a 30-car wedding convoy and violated multiple traffic regulations, Euronews' Turkish service reported on Sept. 23.

The 30-vehicle convoy received fines of a total 9,585 euros and the drivers had 100 points taken off their licenses on Sept. 19, when they were caught on CCTV.

"They commit every crime possible. Banned left turns, not wearing seatbelts, running red lights and driving in the wrong direction," Dietrich said. "This crime won't be overlooked anymore."

The police refrained from interfering with the convoy at the time of the event to avoid conflict, the mayor said, and shared a photo of the cars on his social media.

Upon accusations of stigmatizing the Turkish community, Dietrich said that he had blurred out license plates, faces and flags in the photo to avoid antagonizing the people in the frame.

"I would have done the same thing if it was a local Bretagne flag or an Indonesian flag. But what if a child had died?" the mayor said.

The mayor said that he aimed to let locals know that their behavior in traffic is under constant surveillance.