Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was forced to decline an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris last Friday after he realized the event would be used to promote LGBTQ propaganda.
Erdogan said at a party meeting on Tuesday that he had received an invitation and intended to attend the ceremony but decided against going after his 13-year-old granddaughter showed him LGBTQ-related images on Instagram and warned him that the ceremony would include LGBTQ elements.
The four-hour spectacular along the Seine featured global stars including queer icons Celine Dion and Lady Gaga, as well as LGBTQ+ icon French DJ and producer Barbara Bucci.
A record 193 openly LGBTQ+ athletes will compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, surpassing the 186 who competed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to Outsports, a website that compiles a database of openly queer Olympic athletes.
“Can you imagine? An international sporting event that was supposed to bring people together has kicked off with hostility towards humanity, humanity and values. In our faith, man is the most sacred of all creation. What was being aimed at in Paris was a project to reduce man to a level lower than that of animals,” Erdogan said.
He slammed Olympic organisers for using the event to promote a “perversion” that is destroying families and endangering future generations.
“The LGBT lobby is holding the West hostage,” added Erdogan, who is notorious for openly attacking the LGBTQ community.
The Turkish president also criticized the event as an attack on Christian values, calling it “immoral against all Christians” and said he would call Pope Francis to discuss the issue.
Friday’s highlight event featured dancers and drag queens evocative of the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus is said to have shared with his apostles.
Organisers said they intended to depict a pagan festival and had no malicious intent, but Catholic groups and US presidential candidate Donald Trump condemned the act as an offensive parody, according to AFP.
“I will call the Pope as soon as possible and tell him about the immoral acts committed against Christendom and all Christians,” Erdogan told party members.
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