New Zealand mosques shooter called for death of Turks, Erdogan

CAIRO - 15 March 2019: A terrorist, identified as Australian Brenton Tarrant, who opened fire on worshipers in the New Zealand mosque attacks which killed 49 people, called for the deaths of German chancellor Angela Merkel, London mayor Sadiq Khan and Turkish leader Recep Erdogan in his depraved “manifesto”.

The online document also names Finsbury Park terrorist Darren Osborne, who killed one worshiper and injured several others in a van attack on a north London mosque, as an inspiration for Friday’s mosque attacks.

The attack was motivated by deep-rooted anti-Muslim and xenophobic sentiment often targeting Turks in Europe, according to the document.

In the document, he said he was going to "carry out an attack against the invaders", and included links to a Facebook live stream, in which the Friday shooting appeared accompanied by the manifesto.

The manifesto has a part titled "to turks," [sic] in which the writer threatens to kill all Turks living on the European side of Turkey and elsewhere in Europe. The text defines the area where Turks would be allowed to live peacefully as the "east side of the Bosporus."

"We are coming for Constantinople and we will destroy every mosque and minaret in the city. The Hagia Sophia will be free of minarets and Constantinople will be rightfully christian [sic] owned once more," the text continues.

Forty-nine people were killed and 20 seriously injured in the shootings in mosques of Linwood Masjid and Al Noor, which the Prime Minister has described as a "terrorist attack".

The text also says that Erdoğan's death will serve to drive a wedge "between the Turk invaders currently occupying our lands and the ethnic European people simultaneously weakening Turkeys [sic] hold on the region, removing a prime enemy of Russia and destabilizing and fracturing NATO."

In a part titled "Europe for Europeans," the manifesto vows to remove all "invaders" from Europe, regardless of whether they are "Roma, African, Indian, Turkish, Semitic or other."

Police later said four people were in custody and one had been charged with murder over the country's worst ever mass shooting.

On Wednesday, the Twitter handle @brentontarrant, which is now suspended, tweeted pictures of one of the guns later used in the mosque attacks in the city of Christchurch. It was covered in white lettering, featuring the names of others who had committed race- or religion-based killings; Cyrillic, Armenian and Georgian references to historical figures and events; and the phrase: "Here's Your Migration Compact".

The inncident circulates a white supremacisy imagery and extreme right-wing messages.

The number "14" was written on the side of the rifle as well, a reference to the "fourteen words", a white supremacist mantra.

Three Bangladeshis were among the dead and one was missing, while further nationalities could be among the casualties, with Afghan, Malaysian, and Saudi governments confirming nationals injured in the attack.

A person involved with the attacks also appeared to post regularly to the "/pol/ - Politically Incorrect" forum on 8chan, a online discussion site known for allowing virtually any content, including hate speech, Reuters reported.

About 1:30 p.m. (0030 GMT) on Friday, the anonymous user told the group "I will carry out and attack against the invaders, and will even livestream the attack via Facebook"; approving responses to the post included Nazi images and memes.

The post featured a link to a 74-page manifesto that said he was motivated by "white genocide", a term white supremacists use to describe immigration and the growth of minority populations. It also linked to a Facebook page for a user called brenton.tarrant.9, where the attack was livestreamed.

"Social media has certainly shifted global security risks," said Anwita Basu, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "More than anything, social media has provided a platform for sharing extremist views."

"Police alerted us to a video on Facebook shortly after the livestream commenced and we quickly removed both the shooter's Facebook and Instagram accounts and the video," Facebook tweeted. "We're also removing any praise or support for the crime and the shooter or shooters as soon as we're aware."

YouTube, which is owned by Google, tweeted: "Our hearts are broken over today's terrible tragedy in New Zealand."