Ayşe Hümeyra Atılgan
19 June 2017•Update: 20 June 2017
By Humeyra Atilgan Buyukovali
ISTANBUL
Turkey on Monday condemned the latest terrorist attack outside a mosque in London that left one person dead and injured at least 10 others.
The attack, in which an assailant seemed to have deliberately rammed his van into a crowd of Muslim worshippers near Finsbury Park Mosque in London shortly after midnight, is being treated as a terrorist incident, police said.
"We condemn this attack committed during the holy month of Ramadan in the strongest possible terms as it has targeted innocent people, aiming to disrupt the British public order and its peaceful environment, one which is traditionally multicultural, and based on mutual respect and tolerance," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Turkey will maintain her full solidarity and cooperation with the U.K. in the fight against terrorism,” it added.
"We convey our sincere condolence to the British people, wish God’s mercy upon the person who lost his life in the attack, patience to his family and speedy recovery for the wounded," the statement said.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, national counter-terrorism coordinator, said the victims were all from the Muslim community. Eight of the injured were taken to hospital and two were treated at the scene.
A 48-year-old man was arrested after the public apprehended him, as he left the van and tried to flee the scene.
Eyewitness Abdulraman Aidroos told Anadolu Agency the “white British man” had shouted “I am going to kill Muslims”.
Muhammed Kozba, the mosque’s imam, said worshipers who were performing the prayer were “intentionally” targeted.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said "the incident reflected the rise of Islamophobia in Europe, especially after the recent terrorist attacks which had raised the concern for a potential backlash against the Muslim communities."
The organization stated further that "targeting worshipers of any faith was an attack on the shared values of tolerance and communality".
It has condemned the attack "in the strongest term" and urged authorities "to bring the perpetrators to justice."
Monday's attack is the latest in a series of recent terrorist attacks in U.K.
On March 22, a man killed five people when he drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London and stabbed a police officer. The attacker was shot dead by police.
Two months later, a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a pop concert in Manchester, northwest England.
Eight people were killed on June 3, when a van drove into people on London Bridge before three attackers stabbed victims around nearby Borough Market.
