AA / Istanbul / Esra Tekin
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Sunday that Türkiye had “defeated” the terrorist group Daesh, which some “have recently tried to relaunch as a device serving regional plans”.
Türkiye has recorded “significant success in the strategy of eliminating terrorism at its source,” President Erdogan said at the 8th Ordinary Provincial Congress of the AK Party, which is being held in Trabzon province.
He pointed out that Türkiye suppressed the emanations of the PKK terrorist group on the country’s border, referring to the YPG/PKK terrorist group, thanks to the counterterrorism operations carried out by Ankara.
Erdogan said Türkiye had “neutralized” 40 allegedly high-ranking terrorists in 2024.
“They (the terrorists) have no choice but to surrender their weapons, abandon terrorism and dissolve the organization. The other option is to confront the velvet-gloved iron fist of the Turkiye Republic,” Erdogan said.
“The era of the use of weapons, violence, terrorism and fantasies of the imperialist-backed canton game is now over,” he added.
He affirmed that the new Syrian administration was extremely determined to protect the territorial integrity and unitary structure of the country.
Stressing that the Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Persians are “the historical owners” of this geographical area, Erdogan recalled that these civilizations have lived together for centuries, sharing a common history.
“With God’s help, our future, like our history, will be common. This is why we will not fall into the trap of the imperialists who use the ‘divide and rule’ tactic to pit brothers against each other and exploit their resources. We will not be misled by those who seek to sow discord in these lands. With lucidity, wisdom and strategic intelligence, we will tear down the walls of enmity that they are trying to erect between us,” he declared.
“Through unity and solidarity, we will undoubtedly achieve our goal of a Türkiye without terror, where conflicts, violence and instability belong entirely to the past,” assured the Turkish president.
And he continued: “We will not allow new walls to be erected between us and our brothers and sisters, with whom we share the same land and have lived side by side for a millennium.”
*Translated from English by Mourad Belhaj
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