Terrorists being buried in trenches they dig: Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Dec. 16 reiterated his firm stance against terrorism and criticized the main opposition for calling the people to streets.

“We are always blowing terrorists’ brains out. We are burying them [terrorists] in the trenches that they dig and will continue to do so,” Erdoğan said at an inauguration ceremony of July 15 National Park in Esenler district of Istanbul.

Turkish security forces have been conducting anti-terror operations inside the country and northern Iraq to neutralize the PKK which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the Europen Union.

The anti-terror operations targeting the FETÖ - the group behind the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured - also has been continued across the country.

During his speech, Erdoğan also warned main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu against inviting people to hold demonstrations similar to 2013 Gezi Park protests.

“Mr. Kemal, you cannot make anybody to take to the streets. Let me tell you something: Here is neither Paris nor the Netherlands,” he said.

In the summer of 2013, a relatively small demonstration in Istanbul’s Gezi Park grew into a nationwide wave of protests against the government that left at least eight protesters and a police officer dead.

Since Nov. 17, thousands of protesters wearing bright yellow vests - dubbed the Yellow Vests - have been gathering in major French cities, including the capital Paris, to protest Macron’s controversial fuel tax hikes and the deteriorating economic situation.

During demonstrations, at least four people have been killed and more than a thousand others wounded.

Also in the Netherlands, Yellow Vest protesters took on Saturday to the streets in 16 cities, including the capital Amsterdam, the Hague and Rotterdam, upon calls made on social media by far-right groups.

They protested against the government’s policies on retirement age, costly health and education services and migration issue.