Turkey is a model for its region: Interior minister

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Turkey became a model country whose policies give hope to millions of people in its region, according to the nation’s interior minister.

Speaking to private news channel A Haber on Feb. 20 night, Süleyman Soylu said Turkey, under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's leadership, mapped out its own path in the face of the challenges and uncertainties of the new world order.

On Turkey's fight against the terrorist group PKK, Soylu underlined the significant contributions made by Turkish-made defense products such as unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and ATAK combat helicopters.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Referring to the Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) alleged ties to the terrorist PKK, Soylu said surrendered terrorists often confess to the direct and organic relations between the political party and the terror group.

"The involvement of some parliamentary deputies and many HDP officials in recruiting terrorists for the group is clear," he added.

The Turkish government has long accused the HDP of ties with the terrorist PKK.

On the FETÖ, the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, Soylu said that since 2016, at least 137 senior FETÖ members from 31 different countries were brought to Turkey.

"The financial resources of the group greatly drained. They are now split into four or five different factions who are fighting each other to take over the whole group," he added.

FETÖ and its US-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

Turkey also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.