After Imran Khan, Recep Erdogan doubles down in backlash against Macron's Islam comments

The backlash against President Emmanuel Macron's comments on Islam intensified Sunday, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again urging him to have "mental checks" and protests in Muslim-majority nations.

Erdogan said that the French president had "lost his way", in his second sharp criticism of the French leader in two days over the treatment of Muslims.

As a result of the rebuke, France recalled its ambassador from Ankara and said the move was aimed at fanning hate at home and abroad.

Earlier, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused Macron of "attacking Islam" after the French leader defended the publication of the controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

The French foreign ministry meanwhile called on authorities in affected countries to ensure the security of French citizens.

French authorities denounced Turkish propaganda and described some social media calls for protests as "heinous", lamenting manipulations "by a radical minority" and dubbing nascent boycotts of French goods "groundless".

Also read: French police raid Islamist groups after teacher's beheading

Speaking after teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded for showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed to pupils in a lesson on free speech earlier this month, Macron vowed France would "not give up cartoons" and said Paty "was killed because Islamists want our future".

But Erdogan on Saturday urged Macron to have "mental checks" for treating "millions of members from different faith groups this way", comments which prompted Paris to recall its envoy to Ankara.

The Turkish leader doubled down on Sunday, again contending that Macron "really needs to have checks" and this time also accusing him of being "obsessed with Erdogan day and night". 

Macron later took to Twitter to say, "We will not give in, ever," insisting that his country respects "all differences in a spirit of peace."

"We do not accept hate speech and... will always be on the side of human dignity and universal values," he added.

Relations between Macron and Erdogan have become increasingly strained over geopolitical issues ranging from a Greek-Turkish maritime dispute to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, called the comments Erdogan made on Saturday "unacceptable" and urged Turkey "to cease this dangerous spiral of confrontation." 

Anger at Macron has spilled over into the streets in several Muslim-majority countries. 

Boycotts of French goods were underway in some nations, including by supermarkets in Qatar and Kuwait, with calls to spurn French products in several other states.