Turkey expresses concern over 'serial murders' targeting Muslims in US
This year that Islamophobia continues to spread like a plague in Western countries
Turkey said on Monday that it is "deeply concerned" over the suspicious killings of four Muslim individuals since November in the U.S. city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Qazet.az reports.
"We are deeply concerned about the suspicious consecutive killings of four Muslim individuals since November in the U.S. city of Albuquerque, three of which have been in the past week," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"We want the perpetrators of these serial murders, which are stated to be related to each other and may be hate crimes, to be found immediately and brought to justice," the statement said.
Extending condolences to the families and relatives of the victims, it said "we expect the relevant U.S. authorities to meticulously carry out all kinds of investigations" to clarify all aspects of the incidents.
"We are deeply worried about these serial murders," Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin also said on Twitter, underlining the need to shine a light on the killings and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice as soon as possible.
After a Muslim man was killed in the southern state of New Mexico on Friday, authorities said they were working to determine if his murder was linked to three others in the past nine months.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said the killing could be linked to three other Muslim men who were killed in "ambush-style shootings."
While authorities reiterated a request for anyone with information on the killings to contact the police, it was reported that security measures were increased in certain areas of the city where the Muslim community resides.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country's largest Muslim civil rights organization, increased a reward to $10,000 from $5,000 for information leading to the suspect or suspects related to the killings.
Albuquerque police official Kyle Hartsock said Thursday that the person or persons who killed the Muslims might be the same individual or individuals.
