“As a state and political figure, I have repeatedly stated on a variety of platforms that terrorism has no religion, language or nationality. In this regard, I categorically reject any attempts to link the bloody terrorist attack in the mosques of New Zealand with the ethical principles, morality and teachings of Christianity.”
This is stated in the article by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Washington Post. The article draws attention to the deaths of 50 innocent Muslims and the wounding of dozens of believers who gathered for Friday prayers on March 15 in the mosques of the city of Christchurch.
The Turkish leader called noteworthy the fact that the manifesto distributed by the terrorist on the Internet contained repeated references to Turkey and its president.
“Terrorist Brenton Harisson Tarrant visited various parts of Turkey twice in 2016. In addition, he was located in countries such as Morocco, Israel and Croatia. The intelligence and security structures of Turkey are in close contact with the law enforcement agencies of New Zealand and other countries in order to disclose all the details of this bloody crime and prevent similar terrorist attacks in the future,” Erdogan writes.
The article emphasizes that, in an attempt to substantiate their perverted views, the murderer from Christchurch, distorted the historical realities and teachings of Christianity. “The terrorist tried to split society, to create an atmosphere of hatred and hostility between people. The events in New Zealand are what ignorance and hatred have turned into, ”writes Erdogan.
The author of the article notes that it is not for the first time that Turkey encounters such a manifestation of a distorted radical ideology and the DAESh terrorists are a good example of this.
“The terrorists of Daesh killed thousands of people, most of them Muslims. It was not by chance that the leaders of this criminal organization called for “the re-conquest of Istanbul”, as well as the terrorist from New Zealand declared the need for “re-transformation of Istanbul into a Christian city,” the article says.
The President of Turkey writes further that one of the goals of Daesh was the destruction of Turkish statehood and, in response, the Turkish Armed Forces struck a crushing blow at the terrorist units in Syria.
“There is no difference between terrorists who kill civilians in Turkey, France, Indonesia or any other part of the world,” the Turkish leader stresses, noting that there are many politicians and analysts in the West who have perverted approaches and are trying to draw parallels between the terrorists Islam.
“The world community should not turn a blind eye to the bloody events in New Zealand and allow this to happen again. To do this, we must accept the fact that the terrorist attacks in the mosques of the city of Christchurch is the result of a coordinated campaign to blacken Muslims in the West. It is necessary to put an end to the manifestations of xenophobia and Islamophobia. Leaders of Western countries should support Muslim communities and clearly state that Islamophobia is a threat to society, similar to anti-Semitism, ”Erdogan writes.