7,600 ‘neutralized’ in less than a year, Erdoğan says

“[The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK] has experienced its biggest ever blow over last year. The trenches they dug have become their graves. The bombs they planted to divide the nation have exploded in their own hands. With operations carried out by our security forces since July 20, 2015, some 7,600 terrorists inside and outside the country have been neutralized. Most caves, shelters and shelters where they have hidden have been destroyed and are being destroyed,” said Erdoğan. 

His remarks came on the same day as a bomb attack targeting security personnel in the Vezneciler neighborhood of Istanbul’s Fatih district. In the attack carried out early on June 7, six police officers and five civilians were killed, while 36 others were wounded. 

“[They] want to complete the job that the Crusades, the Mongol invasions and the Treaty of Sevres left unfinished through the terrorist organization,” added Erdoğan, claiming that the PKK was being used as a “tool” of dark outside forces.

The president also said the “resilience” shown in the face of a series of bomb attacks targeting major Turkish cities is “not a sign of surrender but determination.”