Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday some journalists helped nurture terrorists through their writing, after his French counterpart told a joint news conference that countries must respect the law in their fight against terrorism.
"Terror doesn't form by itself. Terror and terrorists have gardeners," Erdoğan said, standing next to French President Emmanuel Macron who had voiced concern about the fate of students, teachers and journalists in Turkey's crackdown.
"These gardeners are those people viewed as thinkers. They water ... from their columns on newspapers," Erdoğan said. "And one day, you find, these people show up as a terrorist in front of you."
