Speaking at a campaign rally in the northern town of Eregli, Mr Erdogan also criticised New Zealand and Australia for sending troops to Turkey for the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War, claiming their motive was anti-Islam-oriented.

He called on New Zealand to amend its laws to ensure the attacker is severely punished.

"What business did you have here? We had no issues with you, why did you come all the way over here?" Mr Erdogan said. "The only reason: we're Muslim, and they're Christian."

He told supporters: "If New Zealand fails to hold the attacker accountable, one way or another we will hold him to account."

Since the weekend, the Turkish leader has been ignoring widespread criticism to use clips of the Christchurch attack to denounce Islamophobia during campaign rallies, as he tries to stoke nationalist and religious sentiment ahead of local elections on March 31.

The video, which was blurred but had clear sounds of automatic gunfire, has been shown to thousands of people at the rallies and aired live on Turkish television, despite efforts by New Zealand to halt its spread.

The video prompted widespread condemnation. Facebook said it removed 1.5 million versions of the footage in the first 24 hours after the attack.

Turkey's main opposition party has also criticised Mr Erdogan for showing the clip "for the sake of (winning) three or five votes" at the elections.

New Zealand foreign minister Winston Peters said he had told his Turkish counterpart the video does not represent New Zealand.

Mr Peters is due in Turkey later this week to attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation in Istanbul as an observer.

The New Zealand embassy in Ankara said Mr Peters had raised the issue with a Turkish delegation in New Zealand. It said the embassy in Ankara and other embassies worldwide had requested that media outlets not show the footage.

In inflammatory comments on Monday, Mr Erdogan suggested that anyone who comes to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments would be sent back in coffins, "like their grandfathers were" during the Gallipoli campaign.

He made the comments in Canakkale province, north-western Turkey, which is home to the historic battlefields, on the anniversary of a First World War Turkish naval victory.

Hundreds of New Zealanders and Australians travel to Canakkale each year for Anzac Day on April 25, to mark the start of the battle of Gallipoli and to commemorate the dead.

Australian Associated Press