The massacre of 49 Muslims in terrorist attack in New Zealand has been roundly condemned by most people and rightly so. Some however are seeking to take advantage of the tragedy and it's not the far-right.
The Guardian reports:
The New Zealand government has criticised Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after he repeatedly showed video footage of the Christchurch mosque attacks to crowds at election rallies.
Erdoğan said he would send home “in caskets” anyone attempting such an attack in Turkey, which he claimed was not the work of a lone gunman.
New Zealand’s foreign minister, Winston Peters, rebuked Erdoğan for using footage of the shootings, saying it could endanger New Zealanders abroad. Erdoğan also displayed extracts from a “manifesto” posted online by the suspected attacker and later taken down.
Erdoğan, facing an uphill battle in local elections at the end of the month due to Turkey’s deep economic difficulties, which include high inflation and a construction crisis, claimed part of the Christchurch suspect’s manifesto was to keep Turks out of Europe, and said the attack was part of a worldwide campaign of Islamophobia.
We can dispute the definition of "Islamophoia" but Erdogan has spent the last few years suppressing opposition and introducing an Islamist agenda into a country founded on secularism. It's illegal to talk about the Armenian Holocaust and the genocide of the Anatolian Greeks that happened in Turkey. Even academics face a harsh prison sentence for mentioning this.
But then Turkey under Erdogan has literally gone backwards as society splits between the prevailing highly conservative ruling elite and the more "liberal" elements who have been suppressed under the Islamist heel.
Photo:By Myrat
Using the footage for his political ends is a disgrace and shows how dangerous this man has become. Remember Erdogan tries to campaign amongst Turkish communities abroad and takes real umbrage when prevented by others not wishing to have their sovereignty undermined like Malta.
Erdogan seemingly wishes to recreate the Ottoman Empire in influence if not fact as he twists history to suit his ends. The Australian reports:
Erdogan seemingly wishes to recreate the Ottoman Empire in influence if not fact as he twists history to suit his ends. The Australian reports:
“There has been an emergence of a new view of Turkish history and of the Gallipoli campaign that was much more infused by a fundamentalist view of the world,” says one Australian official who asked not to be named.
“This interpretation saw the ultimate victory as being a reflection in faith of the one true god rather than a campaign driven by a gifted strategist and leader of men in Ataturk.”
The names of non-Muslim Turkish soldiers at Gallipoli have also reportedly been removed from the List of Martyrs of the Gallipoli campaign issued by Turkey’s Ministry of National Defence.
Ataturk was the commander of Turkish forces at Gallipoli who stymied both the initial Anzac advance on April 25 and all subsequent attacks over the next eight months before the Anzacs evacuated.
His reputation as a military commander is exceeded only by his legacy as the country’s leader. He ushered in a secular Muslim state which tolerated other faiths and minorities.
But secularism is now in retreat in Turkey as Mr Erdogan infuses fundamentalist Islamic mores across Turkish society.
The porous border with Syria led to ISIS being able to supply itself with Turkish goods and new recruits. The Turks could have acted but didn't as the destruction of Kurdish aspirations and the weakening of rivals in the Muslim world is high on Erdogans agenda.
The authoritarian and near genocidal politics of Erdogan towards the Kurds make him a danger in the region already fragile with the competition between the Saudis and the Iranian clerics already in open conflict in the Yemen.
The Kurds are next as are his own people that dare to differ.
The Kurds are next as are his own people that dare to differ.
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