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Turkish PM says our enemies should know
that will never surrender to any attack
20.10.2011 |
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October
20, 2011
ANKARA, — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has called on the nation to act with common
sense in the face of Wednesday's PKK attacks that
left 26 Turkish soldiers
dead,
underscoring that expanding human rights and
democracy in the country is the antidote to
'terror'.
Erdogan called a press conference in the afternoon
on Wednesday and confirmed the death toll in a
series of attacks by the militant Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) in the southeastern Kurdish province of
Hakkari. He said 24 Turkish soldiers and policemen
were killed in the attacks and 18 others were
injured.
"Everyone, both the enemies and friends of Turkey,
should
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo:
AFP |
know that Turkey will never surrender to any attack,
never take a step back and will never sacrifice even
a slightest part of the country's soil. Those who
target the peace and stability of this country will
find this government and the whole nation against
them," Erdogan said.
The prime minister added, "Whoever lends explicit or
implicit support to the terrorist PKK,www.ekurd.net
aids or shows tolerance to the PKK and is careless
about the inhumane attacks by the PKK will feel the
Turkish state's breath on their neck." Noting that
the recent acts of terrorism show that the PKK is a
tool of "dark forces that are targeting peace and
brotherhood in Turkey," he said these attacks aim to
provoke the Turkish people.
"If anyone fails to control his anger in the face of
this painful incident, the terrorist organization
will attain its goal. But we will not lose our
patience and calmness," he said.
Recalling that the attacks took place on the same
day as Parliament was scheduled to begin working on
a new constitution, Erdoğan said this incident will
not prevent Turkey from going ahead with these
efforts. "We know that the fight against terrorism
is a long-running process. We know that the antidote
for terror is human rights and democracy," Erdoğan
added.
The prime minister also targeted the pro-Kurdish
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), whom he criticizes
for not calling the PKK a terrorist organization.
"Those who cannot declare the PKK a terrorist
organization cannot contribute to this process. The
word 'peace' does not even befit their mouths. The
word 'peace' befits those who really long for
peace," Erdoğan said.
BDP co-chairpersons Gülten Kışanak and Selahattin
Demirtaş issued a written statement on Wednesday and
said the deaths in Hakkari have pulled apart the
whole country and that words are not sufficient to
describe the pain they have suffered. "We say
'enough' to this war and these deaths. The painful
picture today once again shows that Turkey urgently
needs peace. Turkey has no option other than peace,"
their statement said.
Ankara launched a response to PKK attacks on the
ground and in the air. Several hundred Turkish
soldiers have crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan region to
hunt down PKK rebels.
Turkish air force planes also bombed Kurdish rebel
bases in Iraqi Kurdistan in retaliation for the
attacks, security sources said. The air raids
targeted Qandil region, the main rear base of the
PKK, they added.
Since August 17, Turkish jets repeatedly carried out
air strikes against the Kurdish PKK separatist
group's bases in
Iraqi Kurdistan region,
under justification of chasing elements of the
anti-Ankara PKK, forcing large numbers of Kurdish
citizens of those areas to desert their home
villages, including an air raid that
killed 7
Kurdish civilians in a village north
of Kurdistan’s Sulaimaniyah city on August 21st.
Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been
fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the
constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a
Kurdish state in the south east of the country, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000
lives.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous
Kurdish region
and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds who
constitute the greatest minority in Turkey,
numbering more than 20 million. A large Turkey's
Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees,
lifting the ban on education in Kurdish, paving the
way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within
Turkey, reducing pressure on the detained PKK leader
Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action against
the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish
constitution.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
The PKK is considered as 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
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