Addressing the reopening of the Turkish Parliament on Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that a terrorist attack targeting police headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara indicated that terrorism was in its death throes in the country, reaffirming that, "Terrorists would never be able to achieve what they wanted."
Erdoğan's remarks came after two police officers were injured when one of two terrorists blew himself up in front of the General Directorate of Security in the Turkish capital of Ankara in the morning.
In his opening speech to the new legislative year of the Parliament, Erdoğan said the terrorist act was a "final flutter of terrorism." He said that terrorists failed in their "latest attempt" to threaten citizens' peace and security. They "have not achieved their goals and will never achieve them," he told members of Parliament, adding that Türkiye will continue to ensure that its southern borders are secure from outside terrorists.
Erdoğan noted that separatist terrorism cost Türkiye heavily over the past 40 years but has now largely been resolved within Turkish borders. He was referring to the PKK, which killed thousands, particularly in the southeastern Türkiye. Türkiye pursues a multifaceted counterterrorism effort and often targets PKK members in Iraq and Syria through cross-border operations.
"We will resolutely continue our struggle until the last terrorist, either in Türkiye or abroad, is eliminated," he stated.
He noted that their strategy of total security "at least 30 kilometers within our southern border and beyond" was still in place. "It is only a matter of time and preparation to take new steps. So, always remember that we can suddenly come upon you one night," he said, repeating his earlier remarks that became a slogan in counterterrorism after lightning cross-border offensives targeting the PKK and Daesh.
Türkiye has neutralized over 1,200 PKK/YPG terrorists since the beginning of this year, including those hiding out across the border in Iraq and northern Syria, the National Defense Ministry said Thursday.
Since January, 317 incidents and attacks have been carried out by the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing YPG in areas of Türkiye's counterterrorism operations, and 926 terrorists have been "neutralized" with the immediate response of Turkish soldiers, according to a ministry official.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).
In its over 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
The PKK, battered and demoralized by Turkish security forces' successful operations, has been in recent years losing members and failing to attract recruits, according to Turkish officials.
Officials said its numbers in Türkiye have been reduced to hundreds, unlike the period between the 1980s and early 2000s. Still, the terrorist group maintains a sizable presence in northern Iraq's rugged terrain, as well as in northern Syria, close to the Turkish border, where its Syrian branch exploits the instability stemming from the ongoing Syrian civil war.
Authorities say less than 200 PKK terrorists remain in Turkish territories, while others are confined to Iraq and Syria. The southeastern region of Türkiye, plagued with terrorism for decades, regained a sense of normalcy, which is evident in flourishing tourism and other activities in the mountains once used as hideouts by terrorists.
Ties with EU
In the same speech, Erdoğan also spoke about relations with the European Union. He said that his country "no longer expects anything from the European Union, which has kept us waiting at its door for 40 years," referring to the accession process.
"We have kept all the promises we have made to the EU but they have kept almost none of theirs," he said. The president added that he would not "tolerate any new demands or conditions on the accession process" for his country to join the bloc.
The president also criticized a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHtR) in favor of a member of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). He said that the "decision was the straw that broke the camel's back." "(Türkiye) will not turn back in its fight against this band of traitors," he said.