More counterterrorism operations and messages of unity were only things following one of the terrorist group PKK’s rare attacks on the capital of Ankara. The attack, which killed five at major defense company TAI, cemented public outrage towards the group, which killed thousands in its campaign of violence since the 1980s. It also appears to be a response to an unprecedented call by a nationalist leader, but politicians exhibited a united front following the attack, something drawing praise from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Erdoğan on Friday visited SAHA Expo, an international defense fair in Istanbul, where the country’s leading contractors, including TAI, showcased the latest in the sector. Erdoğan said Türkiye would persist in its fight against terrorism in a multi-layered way and “with the same strategic mind.” “We will not fall into traps. We will not deviate from our goals and we will not concede from our brotherhood and unity,” Erdoğan said in a speech there. “We will always remember our martyrs and our resolve to fight against the traitors is great. They think we will step back, but we won’t. And we will destroy their dens,” Erdoğan said. He added that any attack targeting the security of the nation is doomed to fail and noted that Turkish forces responded to the TAI attack by hitting PKK targets in Syria and Iraq.
Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has destroyed 157 sites, including safe havens, weapons and ammunition depots in operations against the terrorist organization PKK/YPG in northern Syria and Iraq, a security source said on Saturday.
Between Oct. 23 and Oct. 26, operations were conducted against 157 PKK/YPG locations in northern Syria and Iraq, the source said, adding that the terror outfit's buildings, weapons and ammunition depots were all destroyed.
Sources revealed that MIT used domestically produced defense equipment throughout the operations, including TAI-manufactured ANKA drones, which played a key role in the strikes.
In its 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK has been listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and the EU, and has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, infants and the elderly. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.
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).
On Sunday, the Ministry of National Defense announced that 15 PKK/YPG terrorists were eliminated in areas liberated by Euphrates Shield and Peace Spring operations as well as in Manbij. “We continue to bury terrorists in ditches they dug,” the ministry said in a social media post.
Erdoğan said Türkiye was well aware of the true intentions of “those packs of hired killers.” “We will not allow anyone to prevent our goal of terror-free Türkiye where 85 million people live together in peace,” he said. “No terror attack can spoil our lasting, eternal brotherhood,” he said. PKK claims to fight for so-called Kurdish self-rule in Türkiye’s southeast, a predominantly Kurdish region where it also draws recruits. Under Erdoğan’s past governments, the country tried to end the terrorism issue by restoring more rights to the Kurdish community, something PKK has long exploited, but steps failed to stop the terrorist group. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), a member of the People’s Alliance led by Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party), apparently offered a new “reconciliation process” to resolve the problem earlier this month.
Party leader Devlet Bahçeli called for PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan to speak at the Parliament to urge his followers to lay down arms. Bahçeli’s call was unusual for the hardliner, but the veteran politician has insisted that his call was solely meant for the good of the country. All eyes turned to Bahçeli in the aftermath of the terror attack, which came only two days after the MHP leader’s historic call his party described as a “turning point.”
As he addressed a symposium to remember a founder of Turkish nationalism on Saturday, Bahçeli reiterated their support to President Erdoğan to eradicate terrorism. The nationalist leader said Turks and Kurds had a common enemy: PKK.
Bahçeli faced a barrage of criticism, especially from former nationalists who earlier left his party and went on to found two far-right parties over his remarks regarding Öcalan. “No one should test our patriotism,” he said on Saturday as he underlined that MHP has never been involved in anything that would desecrate the memory of people martyred by PKK. He said MHP always adhered to common sense and followed the path of Sufi mystics who embraced people regardless of their background. “But this approach should not be misinterpreted,” he said, as he launched a lengthy tirade against PKK and the “powers” behind the group. “It is obvious now whose puppet the PKK/YPG is. They delivered the bloody message of their barons to Türkiye the day our president attended the BRICS summit and the day after my remarks on Tuesday (about Öcalan). We can only trample on this message. Traitors infiltrated from Syria are eliminated,” he said.
He stated that terrorists would never accomplish their goal. “It is our national duty to stave off the bloody attacks and foil the efforts of those attacking our national industry,” he said.
In his speech at the SAHA Expo, President Erdoğan said they appreciated the joint stance of the Turkish nation, including the opposition parties, in the aftermath of the terror attack. “I thank every citizen heeding our call for unity,” he said.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which earlier conditionally supported Bahçeli’s call on Öcalan, has joined other parties to condemn the attack perpetrated by the terrorist group, which is affiliated with the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM). CHP has courted DEM in past elections and CHP leader Özgür Özel was on a tour in the southeast where he sought to connect with DEM voters again. Özel, who cut short his trip, visited the TAI headquarters after the PKK attack. “This terror attack targeted TAI against the production of Türkiye’s own aircraft, its own jet engines. This will not daunt us,” Özel said there on Friday.
The leader of CHP, which was set to hold a rally on Sunday against terrorism in Istanbul, said they categorically condemned terrorism regardless of its actors. “We discussed whether we should cancel our rally, which was planned before the terror attack. But such attacks aim to discourage us from showing such courage of coming together in masses. So, we will defy it. Terrorists want to manage the fear and impose it, but we are not afraid,” he said.
Özel said they were “standing like a rock” against the government as the main opposition party, but they would “definitely” not stand against the hope of peace, the hope of ending terrorism. The CHP leader said they did not support Bahçeli’s idea of bringing the PKK leader to the Parliament for the call to end terrorism, but they “valued” any effort on the matter. “Öcalan can make a call to PKK from where he is right now,” Özel said. He said they did not know how the attack on TAI would affect this call, but all political parties should exhibit a joint will to “stave off the goal the attack sought to accomplish.”
Erdoğan on Saturday said the Turkish state had “a memory of more than 2,000 years,” and the government and People’s Alliance never uttered anything before comprehensive calculations about such messages’ repercussions. In a speech in the southern province of Hatay, Erdoğan said they considered “every fine detail” in an apparent reference to Bahçeli’s call to PKK and his own endorsement of this “historic window of opportunity” earlier this month. “We will build a Türkiye where peace, democracy and brotherhood prevail, a Türkiye with no place for terrorism and violence,” Erdoğan said. He highlighted that Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Alevis and Sunnis will live in peace in Türkiye as they did for centuries. “Our unity is above any treason, any attempt to undermine it,” he added.
