Turkey praises New Zealand as FM vows ‘Muslims will be safe'

ISTANBUL

New Zealand on March 22 reassured Muslims living in the country they would be "safe and secure" despite the deadly attacks on two mosques in Christchurch.

"Ensuring Muslim communities in New Zealand feel safe and secure is a particular focus," New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters told an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.

Peters said "no punishment can match the depravity of his crime but the families of the fallen will have justice." He screened photographs of New Zealanders mourning the victims.

"This person will face the full force of New Zealand law, and will spend the rest of his life in isolation in a New Zealand prison," Peters told.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan said the OIC, the reaction and empathy shown by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern following the attack in two mosques in Christchurch should be an example to world leaders.

Erdoğan thanked the people and authorities of New Zealand for their sensitivity and determination against the attack.

Erdoğan also called to fight Islamophobia like “anti-Semitism after Holocaust.”

New Zealand's foreign minister arrived in Turkey early on March 22 for what he called "substantial" talks after comments made by Erdoğan over the killing of 50 people at the mosques.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoğlu also praised New Zealand authorities and their "sincere solidarity messages.”

"We are here to show we are one body against Islamophobic actions across the world," he said.