Old video of controlled demolition from Turkey shared as destruction of Mosque in China.

The viral video shows the controlled demolition of a Mosque minaret damaged by an earthquake in Turkey in February 2023.

Recently a video of a bulldozer destroying what appears to be a minaret is going viral on the social media with a claim that it shows the Chinese government destroying a mosque in the country. In the viral video, we can see a minaret being demolished. A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to a mosque.
The caption states, “The Chinese government destroying another mosque. The Chinese Communist Party has been focusing on mosques as part its crackdown against the Muslim Uyghurs. And yet, not a word of criticism from Arab leaders”.

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Fact Check- 

Our investigation began with a reverse image search of key frames from the viral video, which led us to the report of Turkish media outlet Aykırı on the incident. They posted the extended version of the viral video on 26 February, 2023, with the caption when translated reads, “A “controlled demolition” attempt was made for the minaret damaged after the earthquake. The officer who supervised the demolition was injured.”

This indicates that the incident occurred about one year ago and not related with China. In further search we found media reports about this incident. Back in February, a series of earthquakes claimed more than 50,000 lives across Turkey and Syria. 

According to a report published by a Turkish website  EnsonHaber , “One of the provinces affected by the earthquake is Adana. While 13 buildings were destroyed in the city, 200 buildings were seriously damaged. One of the most damaged structures was mosques. The minarets of 7 of 1,474 mosques collapsed spontaneously during the earthquake. 

150 mosque minarets started to pose a danger because they were damaged.Pieces of the minaret were scattered around and for this reason, minarets began to be demolished one by one in a controlled manner. During the demolition of a minaret, a piece broke off from the minaret, causing injury to a worker that was seen in the viral video.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The viral video shows the controlled demolition of a minaret of a mosque damaged by an earthquake in Turkey in February 2023. It is not related to China.