Turkey holds top security summit after deadly terror attack

ANKARA

Turkish top civilian and security officials come together at a meeting on Dec. 15 under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to review measures taken against potential terror attacks following twin suicide bombings in Istanbul over the weekend. 

The meeting followed a statement from President Erdoğan that a “national mobilization” against terrorism should be launched. 

The meeting brought together Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, National Intelligence Organization chief Hakan Fidan, and other top civilian and military officials. No statement was issued after the two-hour long meeting. 

The security meeting followed a deadly attack committed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which killed 44 and wounded dozens in twin attacks in the heart of Istanbul. 

In televised remarks late on Dec. 14, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu said one of the suspected suicide bombers arrived in Turkey from Syria, hinting that the PKK’s Syrian offshoot the Kurdistan Democratic Union (PYD) might also behind the attack.  

After the attack, the Turkish military launched military action against the PKK inside and outside Turkey with warplanes pounding PKK positions in northern Iraq.