ANKARA, Sept 1 (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday condemned the wave of hostage-takings in Iraq and urged the release of two French journalists threatened with execution by insurgents demanding the repeal of a ban on Islamic headscarves in state schools in France.
"We are upset about the developments in Iraq... The fact that these actions are undertaken in the name of our faith is an additional source of regret for us," Erdogan told reporters.
"Such terrorist actions, such massacres of innocent people... have nothing to do with Islam," he said.
Erdogan described as a "crime against humanity" the abduction of French reporters Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot and the demand put forward to Paris in exchange for their release.
"Those who have undertaken this action should reconsider their position and give up the stance they have taken against these people. This will only cause them to lose credibility," he said.
Erdogan is heading an Islamist-rooted government in Ankara, which is opposed to a headscarf ban in universities and public offices in the mainly Muslim but strictly secular nation.