Sri Lanka attacks shouldn't be used to harass Muslims

ANKARA

Terror attacks in Sri Lanka shouldn't be used as a tool to harass Muslims, Turkey's ruling party spokesman said on Saturday.

"No one should use Sri Lanka terror attacks, which we strongly condemned, to harass Muslims," the Justice and Development (AK) Party spokesman Omer Celik told reporters.

Celik said that following last weekend's terror attacks in Sri Lanka, Muslims living there were oppressed, even some had to leave their houses.

The attacks were unjustly being attached to Muslims, he added.

On April 21, Easter Sunday, a total of eight explosions targeted different locations in and outside Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka killing at least 253 people. Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Turkey strongly condemned the terrorist attacks.

Celik also praised New Zealand's politics and premier for the stance over the Christchurch attack, and said their stance following the attack should be a model for everyone.

At least 50 Muslim worshippers were massacred, with as many injured, in a terror attack on two mosques in New Zealand's Christchurch on March 15.

Just after the attacks, hundreds of people gathered in front of the mosques to pay tribute to the victims as New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called for unity and solidarity with the Muslim community.

Less than a month after the massacre, New Zealand’s Parliament overwhelmingly passed a bill restricting the use of semiautomatic weapons.

Writing by Can Erözden