UPDATE - Turkey condemns terror attack in Nice, France

UPDATES WITH TURKISH VICE PRESIDENT AND AK PARTY MEMBERS'S REMARKS, REVISES DECK, MINOR EDITS

By Gokhan Varan, Abdullah Yasin Guler, Mumin Altas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Thursday “strongly condemned” a knife attack in the French city of Nice that killed three people.

Police say the attack took place at the Basilica of Notre Dame de l'Assumption, a Catholic church.

“There can be no reason to excuse the killing of a human being and justify violence," the ministry said in a statement. "It is obvious that those who carried out such a brutal attack in a sacred place of worship have never benefited from religious, human or moral values."

The ministry said Turkey stands with the French community against terrorism and violence, extended condolences to the families of the victims, and wished a quick recovery for the wounded.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, and Numan Kurtulmus, the deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, also reacted to the violent attack.

"Violence and terror, especially if they take place in a place of worship, cannot be associated with any religious or moral norm," Oktay said in a statement. "I hereby repeat our call to unite against extremism."

Kurtulmus said "any kind of terrorism is a crime against humanity," and that the world must fight terrorism collectively.

The attack comes amid protests and condemnations from the Muslim world over President Emmanuel Macron’s defense of blasphemous cartoons, and a crackdown on “Islamist separatism.”

On Oct. 16, Samuel Patty, a French teacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils, was murdered.

*Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara