The forces looking to turn global Islamophobia into hostility against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are the same powers behind Gezi protests in 2013 and the failed coup attempt in 2016, pro-government columnist İbrahim Karagül said on Saturday in Yeni Şafak newspaper.
Karagül, in his column, referred to attacks against Muslim worshippers in two mosques in New Zealand on Friday which left 49 people killed and dozens wounded.
The attacker, Australian Brenton Tarrant, reportedly wrote his sources of inspiration, including historical figures who fought against the Ottoman Empire, along with other far-right figures, on his rifle. He referenced particularly the Battle of Vienna in 1683, during which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Habsburg Monarchy in Vienna joined forces and drove back the Ottomans.
The attacker, who was inspired by the Battle of Vienna and wrote “Vienna 1683” on his weapon is the same as those who wrote ”the persecution began in 1453’’ on the walls of Istanbul, Karagül said.
Tarrant also published a 73-page manifesto in which he called for the killing of Erdoğan, along with London mayor Sadiq Khan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Karagül said the attacker’s purposes were no different from those who joined in 2013 the Gezi protests, the biggest demonstrations in Turkey against Erdoğan since he came to power in 2003.
The columnist also said that the attacker in New Zealand who threatened the Turks living on the European side of Istanbul was no different from those who blocked the Bosphorus bridge in the city during a coup attempt in 2016.
“The crusaders who say ‘Turkey will weaken if Erdoğan falls’ is the same as those who provoke the whole Arab lands against Erdoğan after Europe and carry out similar activities inside Turkey,” Karagül said.
The columnist said that stopping Turkey by toppling Erdoğan had become a joint goal of those in the West.
“We received an important message from New Zealand. We already knew it, yet we received it. We see what is coming, we know what to do and we predict what will happen,” he said
Turkey has no other option than reinforcing its defence capacity, to strengthen its central government, and to ensure its social solidarity, according to Karagül.
