ISTANBUL, Rabi'I 4, 1436, Dec 26, 2014, SPA -- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan slammed European countries on Friday for criticising deteriorating press freedom in Turkey and said they should instead try to find a solution for what he said was increasing Islamophobia in the continent, Reuters reported. Turkish police earlier this month raided media outlets close to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan accuses of forming a 'parallel state' to undermine his rule and orchestrating a graft scandal targeting his inner circle. The European Union, which Turkey has been seeking to join for decades, said the media raids ran counter to European values, a criticism already dismissed by Erdogan. On Friday, the President repeated his discontent, with a visibly harsher tone. "We are not Europe's scapegoat," Erdogan told a symposium of civil servants. "We are definitely not a country that Europe can point its finger at and scold. Instead of criticising us, Europe should find a solution to increasing racism and Islamophobia." He made reference to an incident in the German city of Dormagen, where ultra nationalists drew Nazi signs on the walls of a mosque construction, according to reports in Turkish local media earlier this week. -- SPA 19:06 LOCAL TIME 16:06 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1310150