Turkey strongly condemns Nice attack, offers solidarity with France
ANKARA
Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers are seen at the site of an attack on the Promenade des Anglais on July 15, 2016, after a truck drove into a crowd watching a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice. AFP photo
Turkey has strongly condemned the terrorist attack that killed at least 84 people in Nice during the French National Day celebrations, offering solidarity with France and other nations in the fight against global terrorism.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan strongly condemned the attack, which he described as “barbarous,” while also extending his condolences to the families of the victims and the French nation.
“As a country which has been subjected to many terror attacks, we understand the feelings of France and the French nation very well. This barbarous attack, which has been evaluated as a terror attack, has once again revealed the necessity of a determined and consistent fight against terrorism,” Erdoğan said in a written message of solidarity.
The president also added that anyone who acted in an ambivalent manner against terror had to take the necessary lessons from the recent attack, saying that terror has no religion, race or nationality.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack that ensanguined Nice on the [French] National Day. Always on the side of the states of the world in the fight against international terrorism, Turkey shares the pain of the people of France,” said Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım in a Twitter message, which he tweeted in French.
Terrorism is a crime against humanity and no one knows whom and when it will strike next, Yıldırım said, offering his condolences with those who lost their lives in the incident.
In a written message early July 15, the Foreign Ministry condemned and cursed the terror attack, saying, “Turkey is in a full solidarity with France in the fight against terrorism. We will all together continue our struggle against these villains. Terror, before anything else, is an offense against humanity and its universal values.”
Kalın: Barbaric attack
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief foreign policy advisor and spokesperson İbrahim Kalın condemned the “barbaric attack” in a written statement, offering his condolences to the loved ones of the victims and wishing a speedy recovery to the wounded.
“The modern barbarians who perpetrated the attack have nothing to do with religion and humanity. There is no room for them in this world - nor should there be. On this sad day, we stand in solidarity with France. Joint action against all forms of terrorism is a global responsibility and necessity,” he said.