15 July 2016•Update: 16 July 2016
Turkey’s president on Friday led condemnation of the terror truck attack in the French city of Nice that killed 84 people celebrating Bastille Day.
“I strongly condemn the inhumane terrorist attack that happened during France’s national day celebrations,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement. “Being exposed to many terror attacks, we fully understand France.”
Turkey has been the target of numerous terror attacks carried out by Daesh and the PKK in the last year, the most recent being the Istanbul airport attack last month that killed 45.
Erdogan said the “barbarous” Nice attack again demonstrated the need for a “decisive and consistent” anti-terror drive. Those with a “hesitant” attitude towards terrorism “should learn lessons” from the attack, he added.
“These barbarians do not have a place on earth and they should not have,” Erdogan said. “We are all witnessing that for terrorists there are no differences between Turkey and France, Iraq and Belgium, or Saudi Arabia and America.”
He also offered his condolences to the victims’ families and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
In addition, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin denounced the “modern barbarians” who carried out the attack, who he said “have nothing to do with religion or humanity.”
In a statement released online, he added: “There is no room for them in this world -- nor should there be. On this sad day, we stand in solidarity with France. Joint action against all forms of terrorism is a global responsibility and necessity.”
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus also condemned the terror attack on his Twitter account.
"I strongly condemn this heinous attack. I share the pain of the people of France and offer my condolences," he tweeted.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also railed against the “barbaric terrorist attack in Nice” in a Twitter post, saying that the world should “combat terrorism resolutely wherever it happens, regardless of who commits it”.
He added that Turkey would “continue to fully cooperate with France and all other partners in the fight against terrorism”.
Also talking about the attack during a press conference in Baku with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, Cavusoglu said Turkey will stand strong with its allies, especially with France, in the fight against terrorism.
"The attack shows that we must be more determined to fight those terrorists, terror groups, and drain the swamps these terrorists feed on," Cavusoglu said.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry also issued a statement on Friday condemning the attack.
"Terrorism, before anything else, is a desecration of humanity and universal values," the statement said.
EU Minister Omer Celik also condemned the “horrible” events in Nice in “the strongest possible terms”.
"Terror is always brutal wherever or in whatever form or with whatever motives it attacks humanity,” he tweeted. “We should all unite against it."
