Relative of Turkish victim of NZ shooting calls for solidarity against anti-Muslim acts

Yahya Tüzen, the brother of Zekeriya Tüzen, who was heavily wounded in Friday's terror attack at the Al Noor mosque in New Zealand, called on the international community to condemn such attacks, highlighting that they felt that they were not alone with the recent visit of Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Vice President Fuat Oktay to the country.

Speaking to Sabah newspaper, Tüzen said that his elder brother is still unconscious and was wounded in his back, stomach and leg. "My brother, 46, went there to work many years ago and settled down in the country. He has two children aged 5 and 10. He is now under intense care and heavily wounded," Tüzen said, adding that they are in shock as such an attack had never occurred in the country. He also said that they are waiting for his brother to open his eyes as the doctors said there is nothing that they can do but to wait.

Tüzen stated that attacks based on race and religion need to be condemned internationally.

At least 50 people were killed when a terrorist opened fire on worshipers during Friday prayers at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Underscoring that the visit of Oktay and Çavuşoğlu to New Zealand was meaningful, Tüzen said that "it made us happy that the Turkish delegation went there with the instruction of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and supported the victims." He highlighted that this helped bind the wounds of the attack. "We have seen with the support of our president that we are not alone in any part of the world," Tüzen added. He also said that the relatives of the victims appreciated the support given by Turkey. Oktay and Çavuşoğlu were on a two-day visit to Christchurch city in an effort to underline Turkey's firm stance against xenophobic and anti-Muslim acts, as well as to show its solidarity with New Zealand.During his visit Oktay called on the world to stop promoting "provocative language" in wake of Friday's terror attacks on the mosques in New Zealand.

In relation to the attack, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called on avoiding the terrorist's name who conducted the attack saying, "I implore you: Speak the names of those who were lost, rather than the name of the man who took them. He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing, not even his name." The terrorist's desire for attention was made clear in a manifesto sent to Ardern's office and others before Friday's massacre and by his livestreaming footage of his attack on the Al Noor mosque.