Erdogan took Christchurch shooting to campaign trail
Erdogan’s campaign uses brutal images at election rallies of the New Zealand terrorist’s footage and hateful rhetoric, deepening the rift within Turkish society and distancing Turkey further from the West.
The Christchurch attack in New Zealand that killed 50 people has provided fresh ammunition to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s campaign trail to lash out at Islamophobia days before the March 31 local elections, which Erdogan portrays as “a matter of survival." But it has also stirred tensions between Turkey and a grieving New Zealand that is trying to handle the situation sensibly.
The attacker — an Australian citizen — livestreamed the attacks with a head-mounted camera. Social media companies have been working diligently to remove the footage of the terrorist attacks. Nevertheless, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan played the videos over and over during his televised rallies.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that dissemination of the video could endanger his country and that he had shared his concerns with the Turkish delegation.
At a Gaziantep rally, Erdogan asked the audience if they had watched the live feed of the attack. “This murderer published a manifesto where he targets all Muslims, along with our country and myself. He says we should not cross to the west side of the Bosporus, or he would come and kill us all and remove the minarets of the Hagia Sophia.” Erdogan told the crowd three Turkish citizens were wounded in the attack and that he had spoken to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
