Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has branded the suspected New Zealand mosque shooter as 'scum' and said Islamophobia 'is taking over the West like cancer'.
Erdogan made the comments at an election rally on Friday where he revealed three Turkish citizens were injured in the attacks - and he had spoken to one of them.
The 65-year-old politician said the suspect was 'impertinent, immoral, vile and scum' and said he had chosen innocent worshippers as an easy target.
Turkey's President Erdogan said the New Zealand mosque shooter was 'scum' after he left three Turkish nationals injured in the attack on Friday
He said: 'As Muslims, we will never bow our heads, but we will never fall to the level of these vile people.'
He went on to label the attacks the 'latest example of rising racism and Islamophobia.'
Speaking at the funeral of a former minister, Erdogan said the Islamophobia that motivated the attacks 'has rapidly started to take over Western communities like a cancer.'
Speaking at an address to the supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party during a rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, Erdogan called on Western nations to rapidly take measures to curb rising racism against Islam and Muslims
Police console a man outside a mosque in central Christchurch, New Zealand, after people were killed in a mass shooting in the New Zealand city of Christchurch. Police urge people to stay indoors
Ramzan Ali is thought to be the last man to get out of the Masjd Al Noor Mosque alive. He waits in front of the mosque as he waits for news about his brother who was with him
The Masjid Al Noor Mosque on Deans Avenue was the scene of the mass shooting, in Christchurch. At least one gunman opened fire at around 1:40pm local time after walking into the mosque
Armed police maintain a presence outside the Masijd Ayesha Mosque in Manurewa in Auckland. Four people are in custody following the shootings at two mosques in Christchurch
World leaders expressed condolences and condemnation following the deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand, while Muslim leaders said the mass shooting was evidence of a rising tide of violent Islamophobia.
In a tweet, U.S. President Donald Trump sent 'warmest sympathy and best wishes' to the people of New Zealand.
He wrote that '49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!'
Police speak to witnesses following the shooting at the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch. The deaths happened at Al Noor mosque and the Linwood Masjid
A parent waits at the front of at Beckenham Te Kura o Puroto primary school in Christchurch. Schools across Christchurch were put in lockdown following shooting attacks on two mosques in the city
New Zealand police said at least 49 people were killed Friday at two mosques in the picturesque South Island city of Christchurch.
More than 20 were seriously wounded in what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called a 'terrorist attack.'
One man was arrested and charged with murder in what appeared to be a carefully planned racist attack.
Police also defused explosive devices in a car.
Witnesses are escorted away from a mosque in central Christchurch. New Zealand police have warned people to stay indoors as they tried to determine if more than one gunman was involved
Shocked family members of men thought to be in the mosque at the time of the shooting stand outside the Masjid Al Noor
And two other people were being held in custody and police were trying to determine how they might be involved.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan echoed Erdogan's comments.
He tweeted: 'I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 where Islam & 1.3 bn Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror by a Muslim.'
The secretary-general of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Youssef al-Othaimeen, said in a statement that the attack 'served as a further warning on the obvious dangers of hate, intolerance, and Islamophobia.'
