Terrorism not solely a gov’t matter: Çiçek

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The problem of terrorism is a national issue, Speaker Cemil Çiçek says. AA photo

The problem of terrorism should not be considered a problem that solely concerns the government as the fight against terrorism is, in reality, a national issue as is Turkey’s Cyprus issue, Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek said.

“This country came across with all varieties of terror, [thus] we have to know terror inside and out. Terror is a problem of the state. The Turkish Republic State has a terror problem. This should be well understood. It is not a government matter,” Çiçek was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency, while underlining that he was not saying this “to find an excuse for any government.”

Çiçek’s remarks came as he delivered a speech at an award ceremony late on Sept. 4 in the central Anatolian province of Sivas. Terror has never fallen from the agenda of the country, Çiçek said while recalling that terror activities launched by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are almost three-decades old. The activities of the PKK and other forms of terrorist attacks should be taken into consideration, Çiçek said, adding that all governments – either coalition or signal party, either leftist or rightist or centrist – have had to deal with terrorist activities. “Terror is a national issue. Exactly like the Cyprus issue,” Çiçek said.