Türkiye calls its ‘friends’ to take concrete steps against terrorism
As Türkiye copes with the aftermath of a terror attack that targeted the capital Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan renewed his call to the international community for a joint fight against terrorism. Addressing an event where members of the Council of State convened in Ankara, Erdoğan said they expected “concrete steps” from friendly countries against terrorism.
“We want to see concrete steps from our friends along with condemnation. It should be known that statements soothing us and condemning terrorism will not be a balm for our wounds,” he said.
Reminding that Türkiye has “sacrificed” thousands of people to terrorism, Erdoğan said: “We truly cannot comprehend the tolerant attitude shown to the bloodthirsty killers.” “We cannot explain to ourselves or to our nation the lack of any action against the terrorist leaders despite folders full of evidence,” he said.
Though Erdoğan did not mention any specific country, his target was obvious: the United States and European countries. Ankara repeatedly condemns U.S. support for the YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist group, which was behind Sunday’s terror attack that injured two police officers. Under the guise of the fight against Daesh, the United States provides training and military equipment to the YPG, which seeks to legitimize its presence in Syria’s north through an entity called the Syrian Democratic Forces or SDF. European countries, including Sweden which seeks Türkiye’s approval for NATO membership, were also accused by Ankara of harboring members of the PKK and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). Terrorists wanted by Türkiye often find shelter in other European countries giving them political asylum.
“If these terrorists were not neutralized in Ankara and managed to flee abroad, they would be given political asylum and would be protected. It is most likely that some of our friends who condemned this act of terrorism would unfortunately reject our request for their extradition,” Erdoğan said.
Source » dailysabah.com
