Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed on Wednesday that his country will continue its fight against terror organizations, including the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, with full speed.
“Let me put it clearly, the operations will continue," Erdoğan said in a meeting with local chiefs at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.
Erdoğan said that Turkey was determined to utilize all means to ensure lives of its citizens and national security.
The outlawed PKK declared on July 11 that it had ended a ceasefire which was started in 2013 under the framework of a reconciliation process to end the decades-long armed conflict in the southeast. The terror group then launched dozens of attacks targeting both security forces and civilians, killing 29 security personnel and several citizens so far.
"We started the reconciliation process, the PKK chose the path of conflict," said Erdoğan and added, “We extended our hand, but they responded with arms."
"We will never stop in the face of all these attacks. We will continue to fight with determination," he underlined.
The Turkish president reiterated that "no concessions" will be made in the fight against "terror" saying, "All terrorists will either leave the country or lay down their arms and bury them under concrete."
Until the terror groups do so, the Turkish state would continue its operations with full speed, he said.
"A state subjected to an armed attack has the right to defend itself with arms," he added.
He also slammed the pro-Kurdish political party, HDP, for being an instrument of a terror group as well as failing to distance itself from the PKK terrorist organization.
Erdoğan criticized the HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş who did not even condemn the terror attacks and visited European capitals for seeking a solution for ongoing conflict.
“The party controlled by the terrorist organization is seeking a solution in foreign capitals," Erdoğan said.
He said the HDP representatives should make a choice between the votes and weapons.
Erdoğan also blamed the parallel state-affiliated, self-proclaimed academics, journalists and intellectuals for supporting the PKK terrorists and its terror attacks. “We saw them as the same line with the separatist terror organization," he said.
The Turkish president also touched upon the ongoing coalition negotiation and said the election results forced Turkey to follow this path as he reiterated that he had not expected such a situation.
He officially mandated PM Ahmet Davutoğlu about a month ago to form a coalition government with at least one of the parliamentarian party.
As the coalition negotiations have not yet reached steps that give a hint about getting a positive result, Erdoğan said, “I have given the official mandate to the PM. I hope a coalition government will be formed."
