Erdogan, who once threatened to ban Facebook in his country, used his official page on the website to respond to Zuckerberg both in Turkish and in English.

"I highly value Mark Zuckerberg's message for pointing out the profound difference between Islam and terrorism since these two concepts are often mentioned in the same breath these days," he wrote.

"As I always express on different platforms, Islam is a religion of peace. Murderous networks that abuse Islam for their self-serving goals are massacring innocent people every day, particularly Muslims."

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Zuckerberg said that the Muslim community should not have to fear being "persecuted for the actions of others" following attacks in Paris and elsewhere carried out by Islamic extremists.