Turkey condemns deadly Nice attack

Duvar English - Reuters

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Oct. 29 that it strongly condemns the deadly knife attack in the French city of Nice.

In a statement, the ministry said Turkey stood in solidarity with the French people against violence and terrorism.

"Nothing can justify killing a person and violence. It's clear that those who staged such a brutal attack in a holy place didn't get their share of religious, humanitarian and moral values," the statement read.

A knife-wielding attacker shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) beheaded a woman and killed two other people at a church in Nice, while a gunman was shot dead by police in a separate incident.

Turkish Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said that Islam cannot be used in the name of terrorism and condemned the attack.

"We call on the French leadership to avoid further inflammatory rhetoric against Muslims and focus, instead, on finding the perpetrators of this and other acts of violence," Altun wrote on Twitter.

As our President Erdogan has stated many times, Islam cannot be used in the name of terrorism. We condemn unconditionally the most recent terror attack in Nice, France. Such senseless violence has nothing to do with Islam or Muslims.

— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) October 29, 2020

Altun also said Turkey would continue to confront any politician who insults its religion and values and renewed Turkey's call for cooperation against terrorism and extremism.

The attack on Oct. 29 came at a time of growing Muslim anger at France's defense of the right to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad and protesters have denounced France in street rallies in several Muslim-majority countries.

France warns citizens to be cautious in Turkey as anger seethes over cartoons