Pro-Islamist demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against France near the French Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on May 9, 2018. (Reuters photo)

ANKARA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has suspended student enrollment in French literature and teaching departments in Turkish university, amid political tension between Ankara and Paris.

Turkey's Council of Higher Education (YOK) said that the reasons for the decision include low employment of graduates in such departments and a lack of reciprocity, said local daily Hurriyet reported on Thursday.

There is no university department in France providing Turkish language and literature education, according to the report.

The education body noted that there are 19 university departments providing French language and literature and French language teaching in Turkey, but 16 others have no registered students as of yet.

The restriction is valid for departments that have not received students yet. Departments that already had students will continue their education without any hindrance, the officials said.

On April 21, 300 prominent French figures including former President Nicolas Sarkozy and former Prime Minister Manuel Valls signed a manifesto, published in the French daily Le Parisien, demanding some parts of the Holy Quran, which they claimed to contain violence and anti-Semitic references, to be removed.

Turkish ministers have been slamming the French proposal.

"The West! As you keep on attacking our holy book, you should know that we will not attack your sacred but we will overthrow you," Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

There has already been political tension between two capitals over disagreements about the Syrian crisis.