Turkey condemns shooting at Brussels Jewish Museum

Turkish Foreign Ministry extends condolences to families of Saturday's fatal attack that left four dead, including an Israeli couple.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Mourners attend the funeral of Mira and Emmanuel Riva in Tel Aviv May 27. (photo credit: FINBARR O'REILLY / REUTERS)
Mourners attend the funeral of Mira and Emmanuel Riva in Tel Aviv May 27.
(photo credit: FINBARR O'REILLY / REUTERS)
Turkey has condemned Saturday's shooting at the Brussels Jewish Museum that left four dead, including two Israelis, Turkish Daily Hurriyet reported Thursday.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry extended its condolences to the families of the victims and vowed to continue to support investigations of the fatal shooting and Belgium's efforts to seize those responsible for the attack.
The ministry expressed its concern over the violent incident and its possible anti-Semitic motives in light of the results of the EU parliamentary elections that saw seats gained by far-right parties, known for their radical nationalistic policies.
“We want to hope that the attack was not launched with racist motivations and does not have anti-Semitic characteristics,” Turkey's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Wednesday.
“Otherwise, our concerns in the face of the fatal picture that has emerged in the European parliamentary elections will further increase,” Hurriyet quoted the ministry as stating.
Ankara also highlighted that it would continue to support measures to fight against "religious intolerance and xenophobia, which include threats, provocation or violence against humanity".
On Saturday, a lone gunman entered the museum with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and opened fire, killing the Israeli couple Emanuel and Mira Rivas and one other, injuring a fourth person. The fourth victim died on Monday.
Belgium, France and the Netherlands have heightened security around Jewish sites.
Investigators continued to search for the perpetrator who remained at large.
Despite recent debate among Belgian authorities as to whether the attack was an act of terrorism or a professional hit, a police statement said that Belgian authorities were currently treating the incident as a terror attack.
Sam Sokol contributed to this report.