Bill Shorten talks tough as Turkish president uses Christchurch video to whip supporters
Bill Shorten says it is “deeply frustrating” and “disturbing” that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again shown footage of the Christchurch mosque massacre.
The opposition leader said while he understood “there were some domestic politics being played out” the coming Turkish election was “no excuse for disrespecting our Anzacs.”
“It’s not on, it’s not appropriate and it’s not the basis of the relationship that we’ve had really since the end of the First World War with the government of Turkey,” he said.
The footage was apparently shown at a rally only hours after New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Mr Erdogan in Turkey on Friday.
Asked if he had raised the shooter’s footage being shown by the Turkish president as part of a nationalist video, Mr Peters told reporters the matter wasn’t mentioned.
“I didn’t ask that question because I felt I did not have to ask it because they are not doing it anymore,” he said, only to be proven wrong almost immediately.
The Australian government is still reviewing travel advice, which currently advises a “high degree of caution” for Turkey ahead of Anzac Day services in Gallipoli after Mr Erdogan’s provocative comments.
-AAP