Ardern and Erdogan: Different responses to the same incident

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The massacre in Christchurch awakened the response of several leaders. What were their reactions to the massacre?

Does Ankara move away from the European Union?

The response of President Erdogan to the killing of more than 50 Muslims in New Zealand was clear and forceful. According to Deutsche Welle, this Turkish president vowed to avenge the victims of the massacre, if the government of New Zealand does not punish the Serbian-Australian, Brenton Terrant.

Leer en español: Ardern y Erdogan: Respuestas distintas a un mismo incidente

However, Erdogan went beyond simple statements and criticized the laws of this oceanic country. According to the same German media, the highest leader of Turkey "I regret that the lives of people are so cheap in that country" and do not apply the full weight of the law against a criminal.

However, the words that shook the European Union were the consideration of reincorporating the death penalty in Turkey. As El Pais pointed out, Erdogan continued his statements arguing that the abolition of the death penalty in Anatolia was an error, and for this reason, this decision should be reconsidered.

Years ago, Turkey had abolished the death penalty as a gesture of rapprochement with the European Union, because this Asian country wants to enter the European community.

Read also: New Zealand: jihadists respond to massacres

According to Sputniknews, this president had already taken several steps to approach the death penalty and move away from Brussels, since, in 2017, Turkey decided to move from a parliamentary republic to a presidential republic. The decision would result in full powers for the free removal of officials and the enactment of laws by decree.

Wellington points to another direction

Against Ankara's position, Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, made a more peaceful decision. Well, according to the country, Arder declared that semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles would be banned, as well as all fast-loading weapons.

The country portrayed the words of this president: "Announcement that New Zealand will ban all military-style semiautomatic weapons, we will also ban all assault rifles … To summarize, every semiautomatic weapon used in Friday's terrorist attack will be banned in this country".

However, Jacinda Arder went beyond a simple prohibition. According to the Vatican news center, the president said that this event marks a precedent in New Zealand, and contrary to what many anti-immigrant New Zealanders think, this is not a problem of borders or exclusive countries, but some radical ideologies.

Coupled with this, Arder ended his statements insisting that the name of the terrorist should never be named again, because that way, he would avoid becoming famous an evil being. Finally, his last words regarding extremism were: "extirpate it wherever it exists and makes it impossible to create an environment where it can take root."

LatinAmerican Post | Miguel Díaz

Translated from "Ardern y Erdogan: Respuestas distintas a un mismo incidente"