In a piece for the French magazine Marianne, Martine Gozlan called Turkish president Erdoğan a “dictator” and said that he had dreamed of an “international Islamist leadership” led by the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The Turkish President - wrote Gozlan - wants to be the global champion of Islam through the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite the challenges facing his country which entered in economic recession, the dictator is surfing on conspiracy to win the local elections.”

Gozlan added: “It is necessary to deal with Islamists in words. They usually do exactly the same as what they say, but it takes a crazy time for European observers to believe that. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a master in this subject. Whether or not his party wins the elections, the Turkish President will not change his ideas.

Democracy is like a bus, once you arrive at your destination you get off it. Erdoğan has got off a long time ago, taking rights away from the other passengers first, by covering a woman’s head, or by imposing the three children law, or hitting a Kurdish person, or perhaps a journalist.”