Erdoğan recalls historical struggles in call for Turkey to 'stand up against terror'

ISTANBUL

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on the nation to stand against terror on March 21 in the spirit of past victories in Turkish history, vowing that the country would overcome terrorism through a unified spirit.

“Of course we know very well the fact that terror organizations conduct attacks to enslave our country to their own bloody agenda and to drag our nation to intimidation,” Erdoğan said during an event at Istanbul’s Haliç Congress Center.

“On the one hand we have our pain, but on the other we maintain our nonstop fight against terrorism and we do not step back from our targets or from realizing our projects,” he added, describing recent events as part of “the biggest and bloodiest wave of terror attacks in Turkish history.”

The president vowed that the country would overcome terror by “developing new strategies” and through “the unity and solidarity of the nation.”

“We will surely overcome this terrorism as a state and nation,” Erdoğan said, calling on the nation to “mobilize” in line with the spirit of past glories of Turkish history.

“I am making a new mobilization call against terrorism, terrorist organizations and those who want to tame our country through those organizations. It is a call in the spirit of the Battle of Malazgirt, of the Anatolian Seljuk state founded in İznik that peaked in Konya, of the grandness of the supreme Ottoman plane tree planted in Söğüt that encompassed 24 million m2, of the Dardanelles Campaign and the War of Independence,” he said, adding that Turkey was not only fighting against terrorism and terrorists but also against “the powers that support them with false justifications.”

President Erdoğan also commented on tents erected by supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Brussels, saying the example proved that the European Union was “continuing its hypocrisy.”

“This EU has officially designated the PKK as terror organization. So how come it allows this terror organization to erect tents and raise flags. Is this sincerity? Is this honesty? The EU, which has made Turkey wait at its door since 1963, still continues its hypocrisy today,” he said, vowing to continue voicing his criticisms if the situation continues on this path.