Turkey’s main opposition leader calls on gov’t for joint stance against terrorism
ANKARA
DHA photo
The leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has called on the government and other parties to take a joint stance against terror, as he compared the recent losses of Turkish security forces to those in Turkey’s military campaign into Cyprus in 1974.Political parties should agree to a joint stance against terrorism, Kılıçdaroğlu told journalists on June 8, after paying a visit to the wounded victims of a terror attack in central Istanbul which claimed 11 lives on June 7.
“We have to take a joint stance and lament terrorism all together regardless of where it comes from,” he said.
“This nation has tired of terrorism,” he said, adding that his party was ready for any support in the struggle against terror.
“We have to struggle together. We have to continue this struggle even stronger,” he said, expressing his sorrow for the “innocent victims who were trying to get to work.”
During an interview on broadcaster CNNTürk late June 7, Kılıçdaroğlu said Turkey has given 539 martyrs in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) since last July, more than the number of fallen soldiers in Turkey’s military intervention into Cyprus in 1974 following a Greece inspired coup attempt on the island.
“We have 539 martyrs since June 7 [2015]. This is more than the number in the Cyprus landing,” he said.
“Turkey has to do the same as other countries who have fought against terror and resolve the question. But they cannot do this, they cannot develop a strategy, they can’t fight terror. One thing they say, ‘We sat around the same table [with them].’ They almost granted legitimacy to the PKK. Many countries were about to remove the PKK from their terror list,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
The armed conflict between the PKK and Turkish security forces resurfaced in mid-2015 in the form of urban and rural warfare, while massive bomb attacks in Turkey’s biggest cities continue to shake the country, as another 11 lives were lost in a car bomb attack in Istanbul on June 7 and two civilians and two police officers were killed in another attack in Midyat in the southeastern province of Mardin on June 8.
“We have to take a joint stance and lament terrorism all together regardless of where it comes from,” he said.
“This nation has tired of terrorism,” he said, adding that his party was ready for any support in the struggle against terror.
“We have to struggle together. We have to continue this struggle even stronger,” he said, expressing his sorrow for the “innocent victims who were trying to get to work.”
During an interview on broadcaster CNNTürk late June 7, Kılıçdaroğlu said Turkey has given 539 martyrs in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) since last July, more than the number of fallen soldiers in Turkey’s military intervention into Cyprus in 1974 following a Greece inspired coup attempt on the island.
“We have 539 martyrs since June 7 [2015]. This is more than the number in the Cyprus landing,” he said.
“Turkey has to do the same as other countries who have fought against terror and resolve the question. But they cannot do this, they cannot develop a strategy, they can’t fight terror. One thing they say, ‘We sat around the same table [with them].’ They almost granted legitimacy to the PKK. Many countries were about to remove the PKK from their terror list,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
The armed conflict between the PKK and Turkish security forces resurfaced in mid-2015 in the form of urban and rural warfare, while massive bomb attacks in Turkey’s biggest cities continue to shake the country, as another 11 lives were lost in a car bomb attack in Istanbul on June 7 and two civilians and two police officers were killed in another attack in Midyat in the southeastern province of Mardin on June 8.
