France is increasing security at religious sites amid a stand-off that has pitted President Emmanuel Macron against Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. 

It follows the beheading of a teacher in a Paris street by a Chechen radical nine days ago. Samuel Paty was murdered after reportedly showing his students, during a class on freedom of expression, caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that featured in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. 

Macron, who has announced plans for stronger implementation of France's laws on secularism following the killing, has met with opposition from many within the Muslim world for his response, with the charge led by Turkey's president.

The Turkish leader has called for a boycott of French goods, while in a TV address he likened the situation of Muslims in Europe to that of Jewish people in the run up to World War II.

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After a spate of online threats, police presence around Christian shrines and places of worship in France looks set to be heightened over the forthcoming All Saints weekend. 

Condemnation of Erdogan's comments was swift in the EU, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte saying the Netherlands "stands firmly with France" and Italy's Giuseppe Conte expressing "full solidarity" with Macron. However some Muslim leaders, including Pakistan's Imran Khan, have spoken in Erdogan's defence, decrying France for "attacking Islam."

There have also been anti-France protests in a number of countries in recent days, including Bangladesh and Jordan.

France and Turkey, both NATO members, have clashed over a number of issues in recent months – most recently over Nagorno-Karabakh, but also notably in the Eastern Mediterranean, where France has deployed military vessels in support of Greece in its dispute with Turkey over drilling rights.

In Libya the two countries support opposite sides in the civil war, while Macron has been an outspoken critic of Turkey's actions in Northern Syria against the Kurdish-backed YPG forces who led the ground campaign against the Islamic State fighters.

The implications of a French boycott come at a difficult time for the Turkish economy. The lira, which has lost a quarter of its value since the end of last year, has just hit eight to the dollar for the first time, amid geopolitical tensions and concern over central bank policy. France is the tenth biggest exporter of goods to Turkey, with brands like Renault cars, L'Oreal cosmetics and Danone foods all market leaders.