Seized PKK guns prove operations are righteous: PM Davutoğlu

Akif Beki - RIYADH

AA Photo

Some 11 tons of armaments have been seized in Sur alone, one of the several southeastern districts where clashes are ongoing between Turkey’s security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), proving that the operations are justified, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said.

“Launching operations on July 23 [last year] was a righteous decision,” Davutoğlu told journalists during his official visit to the Saudi capital of Riyadh. 

“When you look at the amount of weapons seized, it is 11 tons in Sur alone,” he said, referring to the central Diyarbakır district. “It is obvious why weapons have also been taken to Cizre and Silopi [two districts in Şırnak]. They are there just to put Turkey in the wheel of fire.” 

“If we hadn’t started these operations and make brave decisions, the results of such a build-up would be worrying,” Davutoğlu said, adding that “such a correct decision should now be backed by correct processes.”
 
He also said “many foreign snipers” were noted during the anti-PKK operations, claiming that “their aim is to stir up Turkey.” 

Davutoğlu hailed “perfect harmony” between all security forces in conducting the operations, claiming that this is “the first time that the police and the army have conducted such operations without either side hiding anything from the other.”

The plans of operations in Silopi, Sur and Cizre have been prepared by the interior minister, the chief of General Staff, the national police chief, the national intelligence chief, and the deputy chief of General Staff, he said. 

“We have perfect harmony. Cooperation between different security institutions of the state is successfully ongoing. I remember in 2002, when I was dealing with the Iraq file, everybody was hiding information from each other,” Davutoğlu stated.