New Zealand’s foreign minister to ‘confront’ Turkish president over his repeated use of Christchurch massacre video in political rallies

New Zealand’s foreign minister intends to confront Turkey in a visit to Istanbul this week over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s use of the Christchurch terrorist attack footage at his election rallies. Erdogan’s repeated screening of the video – largely aimed at portraying his opponents as soft on terrorism – accompanied inflammatory messages that Turkey would make those responsible for the attack “pay for it”. The move has infuriated Wellington, which has been trying to send a message of reconciliation with the Muslim community in New Zealand, with a promise to crack down on the causes of white supremacist terrorism. The Ardern administration has already spoken with the Turkish ambassador to New Zealand, but Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ decision to personally speak to Erdogan relays Wellington’s concern that the nation’s grief was being exploited by Turkey for internal political purposes. Peters also believes the lives of New Zealanders based in Turkey were being endangered by the Turkish government’s rhetoric. He is likely to meet members of Erdogan’s cabinet when he attends an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, which will be addressed by Erdogan on Friday. Among the participants will be the foreign ministers of Iran, Libya, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Qatar and Somalia. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Peters would seek urgent clarification. “Our deputy prime minister will be confronting those comments in Turkey. He is going to set the record straight face to face,” Ardern told reporters in Christchurch. Erdogan has used footage of the Christchurch attack at least seven times in his election rallies since Saturday. At a recent rally he said: “You will pay for this. If New Zealand doesn’t make you, we will.” He then called for New Zealand to reinstate the death penalty. “This is not an isolated event, it’s something more organised,” he said, later accusing the West of “preparing” the killer’s manifesto and “handing it to him”. Erdogan’s use of the video has continued even though Facebook has removed more than 1.5 million videos related to the attack from its site, partly at the urging of New Zealand authorities, who are determined not to give the killer notoriety. The Turkish president is fighting an uphill battle to maintain support for his Islamist AK party in local elections that will be held on 31 March. Man whose wife was killed in Christchurch tells shooter: ‘I love you’ At a rally this week, coinciding with a commemoration of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign – when Ottoman soldiers defeated British-led forces, including those from Australia and New Zealand – the Turkish president warned that those coming to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments would be going home in caskets. Major news channels in Turkey screen Erdogan rallies live and, as a result, footage of the attack was seen by millions of people. The president’s video editors had blurred the images to lessen the shock of the atrocity, but the barrel of the gunman’s shotgun in the foreground, as well as the shapes of the people being targeted were clearly visible, while sounds of shots being fired could be heard. Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister, said he had summoned the Turkish ambassador to urge the country’s president to remove the footage, including from the state broadcaster. He said his ambassador to Turkey would also be meeting with members of the Turkish government to discuss what steps to take, adding that all options were on the table, including a break in diplomatic relations. He said Australians had been greatly offended by Erdogan’s words, especially the relatives of those that died during the Gallipoli campaign. Terrorist is ‘nameless’ to me, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Turkish state-run media portrayed Peters’ visit in a different light, suggesting the New Zealand foreign minister was coming at the invitation of Turkey’s vice-president, Fuat Oktay, and the foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, both of whom visited New Zealand following the terror attacks. Pervin Buldan, the co-leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, the third-biggest party in Turkey, accused Erdogan’s AKP of exploiting the video for the municipal elections. “Fifty people lost their lives in a very painful way [in New Zealand], and they want to turn this into votes,” Buldan said at a rally of her pro-Kurdish party in eastern Turkey. “It’s a shame and it’s a sin.”

New Zealand’s foreign minister to ‘confront’ Turkish president over his repeated use of Christchurch massacre video in political rallies

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s use of the footage has infuriated the government in Wellington, which has been trying to send a message of reconciliation

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s use of the footage has infuriated the government in Wellington, which has been trying to send a message of reconciliation