In a new year message on Wednesday, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), urged caution against provocations by the terrorist group Daesh.
Bahçeli, one of the architects of the terror-free Türkiye initiative for the dissolution of the terrorist group PKK, said “adversary countries disturbed by terror-free Türkiye mobilization” may very well turn to “bloody provocations by Daesh, which is the intelligence apparatus of those countries.” “We should be vigilant against the awakening of treacherous sleeper cells of Daesh and activate all defense shields of our national security,” Bahçeli said in his statement.
Daesh members killed three police officers in northwestern Yalova on Monday during a counterterrorism raid. Six terrorists were killed in the shootout. In the wake of the attacks, authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on the group and detained hundreds since Monday.
Bahçeli said Türkiye should remain committed to ending the existence of terrorist groups regardless of their names or origins. “It is an obligation to remain cautious against psychological and strategic warfare carried out against Türkiye, to be vigilant against intelligence attacks, covert operations that may threaten lives,” he said. Bahçeli reiterated that there have been too many incidents that are worth looking deeper into, mentioning drones that were shot down or fell after technical faults in several Turkish provinces, and a plane crash that killed Libya’s army chief in Ankara.
