Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has referenced the tragic loss of life in Gallipoli during World War I in a thinly veiled threat aimed at Kiwis who oppose Islam.
The comments, made during a speech at a rally in Canakkale, come just days after shootings at two mosques in Christchurch - an appalling act of violent terrorism that claimed 50 lives.
Erdoğan referenced the failed ANZAC invasion while communicating his intention to punish anyone who stands against Muslims or Turkish residents by sending them home "in caskets".
"Your grandparents came, [and] some of them returned in coffins. If you come as well, like your grandfathers, be sure that you will be gone like your grandfathers," he said to a crowd of hundreds.
"They are testing us from 16,500km away, from New Zealand, with the messages they are giving from there.
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"This is not an individual attack, it is organised... The enemies of Muslims have shown that they continue to hate us."
More than 11,000 ANZAC soldiers died during the Gallipoli campaign in 1915.
Erdoğan is currently on the campaign trail ahead of the Turkish election at the end of March.
On Sunday (local time), he outraged New Zealand politicians by screening a montage of the attack in Christchurch at a rally, in an apparent attempt to drum up support from his conservative voter base.
New Zealand Police have issued repeated warnings not to share footage of the attack to social media. Anyone who comes across the video is urged to report it to police.
Newshub.
