Erdogan uses New Zealand terror video at campaign rallies
International and Turkish actors criticize President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for using New Zealand mosque massacre video at his campaign rallies for the March 31 local elections.
ANKARA, Turkey — Opposition parties have condemned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for campaigning using the video made by the gunman who killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
In election rallies in the northwest towns of Zonguldak and Kocaeli today, Erdogan interrupted his speech to allow the crowds to watch the film taken by a camera strapped to the gunman’s helmet as he entered Al-Noor Mosque and went from room to room shooting worshippers. The video was played on huge screens beside the stage on which Erdogan stood.
The two main private TV channels, NTV and CNNTurk, broadcast the rallies live, as is customary with Erdogan’s speeches, meaning the video entered the homes and tearooms of millions of Turks.
The president’s video editors had blurred the images to lessen the horror of the atrocity, but one clearly saw the barrel of the gunman’s shotgun in the foreground. One heard the “Pop! Pop!” of rounds being fired, and one saw the hazy shapes of the people being targeted, some kneeling in prayer.
