Deputy PM: Istanbul, Ankara as safe as D.C.

Attending a panel session at the 19th Eurasian Economic Summit, Deputy Prime Minister Tuğrul Türkeş said yesterday that as far as terror was concerned, Istanbul and Ankara were as safe as London, Paris, Brussels and Washington D.C.

“Terror is different. Being terrorized is different. We reject terror groups’ occupation of our agenda. Of course we will continue to fight against terror, but we will never allow [ourselves] be terrorized,” said Türkeş, as he delivered a speech at the “Silk road with Dialogue, Economy, Energy, Involuntary Migration and Terrorism” panel as part of the summit. Saying the Eurasian region had become an important competition platform due to its natural resources, Türkeş added it was impossible for Turkey to remain indifferent to the developments there, both concerning its historic, cultural and geographic closeness and deep-rooted ties with the region and due to the fact that it was a crucial region for world politics. 

Türkeş also touched upon Turkey’s historic and cultural ties with the Eurasian people, saying the country was sharing the sorrows of the region’s people as well as their joys, with an historic, humanitarian and moral responsibility that came from living together in the same geography and therefore Turkey was “supporting its Azerbaijani brothers’ righteous fight in every platform and will continue to support it.”