New Zealand to confront Erdogan for offensive comments, says Jacinda Ardern
Wellington – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Turkey to confront Erdogan’s reckless comments face-to-face.
Opportunist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has angered New Zealand and Australia during his party’s campaign rally by exploiting Friday’s terrorist attack for his personal gains.
He accused New Zealand and Australia for waging war against Muslims during World War I and he termed the only reason for the war was—”We’re Muslim, and they’re Christian,” he screamed.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned Turkey that he would review options to maintain the ties, while terming Erdogan’s comments as “reckless” and “highly offensive”.
Morrison has summoned Turkey’s ambassador for an immediate meeting to demand a removal of Erdogan’s comments from the Turkey’s state broadcaster.
“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 told reporters in Canberra.
“Our deputy prime minister will be confronting those comments in Turkey,” PM Ardern told reporters in Christchurch.
“He is going there to set the record straight, face-to-face,” she added.
Adding insult to the injury, Erdogan played the banned-video footage of the attacks which the terrorist Brenton Tarrant live-streamed on his social media during the attack.
