Australian PM slams Erdogan for ‘reckless’, ‘vile’ Christchurch comments

SYDNEY, Australia – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday, March 20, condemned “reckless” and “highly offensive” comments made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey in the wake of the Christchurch massacre, warning he would consider “all options” in reviewing ties.

Turkish leader Erdogan, while campaigning for local elections, presented the attack as part of an assault on Turkey and Islam and warned anti-Muslim Australians would be “sent back in coffins” like their grandfathers at Gallipoli, a blood-drenched WWI battle.

More than 8,000 Australians died fighting Turkish forces at Gallipoli, which has a prominent place in the Australia’s collective memory.

“Remarks have been made by the Turkish President Erdogan that I consider highly offensive to Australians, and highly reckless in this very sensitive environment,” Morrison said after summoning the Turkish ambassador and dismissing the “excuses” offered.

“I am expecting, and I have asked, for these comments to be clarified, to be withdrawn,” Morrison, who also faces an election challenge in the coming weeks.

“I’ve asked for these comments, particularly their reporting of the misrepresented position of Australia on Turkish television, the state-sponsored broadcaster, to be taken down and I expect that to occur.”

He described claims about Australia and New Zealand’s response to the white supremacist attack as “vile.”

Morrison said Australians travelling to Turkey should exercise common sense and cautioned that travel advice for Turkey was under review.

“I will wait to see what the response is from the Turkish government before taking further action, but I can tell you that all options are on the table,” Morrison said.

In fiery remarks, Morrison accused Erdogan of betraying the promise of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk – the father of modern state and a revered figure in the Turkey – to forge peace between the two countries.

A memorial at the battlefield carries Ataturk’s words: “There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets… after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

“Ataturk sought to transform his country into a modern nation and, an embracing nation, and I think these comments are at odds with that spirit,” Morrison said.

‘Totally unfair’

Erdogan had already been sharply rebuked by New Zealand for his comments and for using gruesome video shot by the Christchurch mosque gunman as an election campaign prop.

New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters protested on Monday that such politicization of the massacre “imperils the future and safety of the New Zealand people and our people abroad, and it’s totally unfair”.

Peters announced on Tuesday, March 19, that he would be travelling to Turkey this week at Istanbul’s request to attend a special meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Three Turkish nationals were wounded in the rampage that killed 50 worshippers at two mosques in the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch on Friday, March 15,

The accused gunman, a self-avowed white supremacist from Australia, livestreamed much of the attack and spread a manifesto on social media claiming it was a strike against Muslim “invaders”.

The manifesto references Turkey and the minarets of Istanbul’s famed Hagia Sophia, now a museum, that was once a church before becoming a mosque during the Ottoman empire.

“This is not an isolated event, it is something more organized,” he said during a campaign event on Monday in Canakkale in western Turkey.

“They are testing us with the message they are sending us from New Zealand, 16,500 km (10,250 miles) from here.”

Erdogan did not project the video at the Monday event.

Peters said he had complained directly to visiting Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. – Rappler.com