Turkish PM Davutoğlu warns of moves against Kurdish bid, discusses int’l cooperation

ANKARA

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has signaled that Turkey may take a more active role in the anti-ISIL coalition. AA Photo

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has called on Kurdish political groups to “not exploit” the situation on Turkey’s border, criticizing an independent deputy from the Turkish Parliament who was photographed throwing a stone at security forces.

Addressing his party’s provincial leaders on Sept. 26, Davutoğlu said those who had previously questioned Arabs and Turkmens fleeing into Turkey did not have the right now to demonstrate on the border.

Aysel Tuğluk, an independent deputy from Van, sparked controversy on Sept. 22 after she was seen throwing a stone at Turkish soldiers in Suruç, a border town in the province of Şanlıurfa.

“Soldiers and the police have been intervening for the past three days. A tear gas cartridge fell down near my feet. So I responded with stones to defend myself,” Tuğluk said after the incident.
Davutoğlu also stressed that Turkey would take its own security measures in the face of the growing threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), saying Turkey would “never act upon another country’s instructions.”

Turkey will continue to keep its doors open to refugees, Davutoğlu also said, disclosing that the official number of Syrian Kurds who have crossed the border into Turkey was now 160,000.

Citing his government’s designation of ISIL as a terrorist organization in November 2013, Davutoğlu said merely objecting to a structure of terror is not enough for a struggle, vowing that Turkey will take part in any operation “if the plan is capable of bringing peace and comfort to the Middle East.”

“[If you] cleared up a terrorist group, a new one will come out. The only antidote of terror and extremism is an interiorizing, integrating politics and culture, the ideal of mutual and equal citizenship, the consciousness of common history,” Davutoğlu said.

Turkey’s perspective on the entire Middle East, the Caucasus and all regions has three essentials, the prime minister added.

“We’ll take all sort of measures for our national security, without needing to ask anybody, just to maintain our nation’s security,” he said of the first.

Secondly, Turkey would host anyone from Syria and Iraq, regardless of their religious background or ethnicity, he said.  

Regional peace and stability is the third essential, he stated. “We’ll support any military operation or solution only if it has a perspective to bring peace and stability to the region,” he said, adding that if plans that are adopted are simply steps “show off” attempts at publicity then Turkey will voice its opinions.

In conclusion, Davutoğlu stressed that Turkey is determined to keep its regional policy of respect for territories, vowing that Ankara would oppose any operation that aims to control oil and other energy resources in the Middle East.