ABC News ran a ‘story’ on Erdogan comments about NZ terrorist act on Friday worshippers.
Next day, ABC reported Prime Minister Scott Morrison who has slammed Turkey's President and threatened further action for "deeply offensive" comments besmirching Anzacs and threatening violence to Australians and New Zealanders following the Christchurch massacre.
But in the whole story that ABC ran, the only statement presented in inverted commas are, "Your grandparents came here… and they returned in caskets". Everything else in the story was reporter’s words.
ABC story has either taken the whole thing out of context, or possibly twisted it to make Erdogan look bad, and redirect the overwhelming positive world response to this terror act in a new direction.
Following the ABC story; Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison summoned Turkish ambassador Korhan Karakoç to Parliament House to protest Erdogan’s statement, possibly without verifying what exactly was said, and in what context.
Morrison did not “accept the 'excuses' that have been offered for those comments" by the ambassador, reported ABC.
Morrison’s reaction was picked up by other newspapers such as The Guardian, which ran similar story.
By watching some of the videos available on YouTube, some with English texts, it becomes clear that Erdogan was responding to the so-called ‘manifesto’ of the terrorist, who visited Turkey twice for a total of 43 days, perhaps to identifying and list possible locations for his future attack/s. Turkey was one of a few Balkan countries he visited.
Erdogan is a politician and there is a possibility that he was trying to capitalise on this unfortunate attack for the forthcoming Turkish elections, but his focus has been on the terrorist (Brenton Tarrant), his manifesto with Turkey and Erdogan mentioned, and his, what appears now, anomalous visit to Turkey.
The link between Tarrant and Turkey is becoming clearer. He went to Turkey in 2016 and spent 3 days and then again 40 days. He wrote about Turkey and its president for what is believed to be his written justification for the massacre.
Erdogan said his visit to Turkey “is being examined to find out his connections, and we will discover his links. However, we want New Zeland to bring all those to account. It is not acceptable if he is held in prison for a while and then released”, reported TRT World on March 16.
“I vehemently condemn the attack targeting Muslims in New Zealand who came together for Friday prayers. With this attack the rise of Islamophobia, which has been watched and even encouraged by the (Western) world for a long time, crossed the line of personal assaults and reached the level of massacre. It is certain that the attack was a result of long term planning and motivation, and it can’t be brushed off as a personal attack. It is obvious that the mindset represented by the killer, who also targeted (our) country, our nation and myself, (has) begun to rapidly invade Western societies like cancer.", said Erdogan.
President Erdogan made the comments at an election rally in Turkey after the massacre of at least 50 worshippers in New Zealand mosques. He said the suspected attacker was “impertinent, immoral, vile and scum”. He added that the attack was the “latest example of rising racism and Islamophobia”.
So when he said "Your grandparents came here … and they returned in caskets", he was talking about Brenton Tarrant and likes, his supporters, the white supremacist (Whitists) organisations, or any governments supporting the Whitists’ cause, and planning a similar or larger scale attacks on Turkey, who will be treated like their “grandparents” some of whom went there during the First World War with crusaders’ zeal, and were “returned in caskets".
The terrorist’s manifesto not only targeted Erdogan but also the Turkish people and the Turkish state. As he was speaking at the Canakkale (Gallipoli) commemoration, he framed his remarks in a historical context of attacks against Turkey, past and present.
I do not believe he was talking about a country like New Zealand, which has shown exemplary support after the twin mosques terror attack, or threatening violence against its citizens.
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