Turkey urges NATO allies to stand united against all terror groups
by Daily Sabah with Agencies
ISTANBULNov 21, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with Agencies
Nov 21, 2016 12:00 am
Ankara has called on NATO ally states to stand united against all terror groups, including Daesh, the PKK and its Syria affiliate the People's Protection Units (YPG), and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), while criticizing the allies for indifference towards Turkey's concerns about the developments in Syria and Iraq.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Saturday, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said the cooperation among NATO members, as well as non-NATO members in the fight against terrorism will increase the effectiveness in tackling the global problem.
"Today, if terrorist organizations still hurt us, that is because international cooperation has not exactly been realized," Bekir Bozdag said during the panel in Istanbul, and added, "It is only when we achieve such cooperation that we can succeed in eliminating all the terrorist organizations around the world, including Daesh, the PKK, the PYD [Democratic Union Party], the YPG, and FETÖ."
Turkey has repeatedly criticized its NATO allies for picking-and-choosing between terror groups, particularly disregarding its fight against PKK-affiliate the YPG in Syria and the activities of FETÖ members in Western countries.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu dismissed claims by the head of the Armenian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Saturday and urged him to be honest regarding Turkey's fight against Daesh terrorists. Çavuşoğlu responded to Koryun Nahapetyan's claims accusing Turkey of actively supporting the terrorist group by saying they have no basis and Turkey is one of the most active participants in the fight against Daesh. Çavuşoğlu added that Turkey is currently waging the most active fight against the terrorists and is the most effective when it comes to destroying the group's ideology. "In Bashiqa alone we killed over Daesh 700 terrorists," Çavuşoğlu noted and urged Nahapetyan to be honest and show evidence of such claims.
Meanwhile on Sunday, the head of the Turkish Armed Forces said Turkey supports the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria and would not interfere in either country. "We support Syria's territorial and political integrity," Gen. Hulusi Akar told a panel at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Istanbul. The presence of the base has angered Baghdad, which has called it an affront to Iraq's sovereignty. However, Akar rejected such claims. "If the issues are not known, there is ignorance, if not malicious intentions," he said.
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