President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday urged the nation to unite against terrorism and not fear or be intimidated by it, while he criticized the West for its 'unprincipled' stance regarding terrorist organizations and refugees.
Speaking at the Forestry Ministry conference marking world forestry and water day in Istanbul, Erdoğan called on everyone to unite and 'mobilize' against terrorism.
He continued by underscoring that Turkey will continue to have a determined stance regarding the protection of democracy, human rights and freedoms, despite terrorist attacks.
"Everyone should be sure that we fight against terrorism rather than democracy, terrorists rather than freedom, and terrorist attacks rather than human rights" the President said.
He added that Turkey will continue to develop new strategies to fight terrorists and achieve concrete results in a short period of time, as long as the nation protects its unity and solidarity.
"This is the biggest antidote to terrorism" he said, while noting that Turkey is going through one of the bloodiest waves of terrorist attacks, but will not be intimidated by terrorism.
President Erdoğan also criticized the West for 'failing the test' on refugees and distancing itself from terrorist organizations such as the PKK.
Erdoğan criticized Europe for its ambiguous stance towards terror incidents in Turkey
The president consistently underscores that Turkey expects more empathy from European countries regarding the fight against PKK terrorists.
In recent months Turkey has been subjected to a surge of terror that has hit both the capital of Ankara and the largest city Istanbul, targeting civilians and security officers.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU, broke an almost two-year-long ceasefire with the Turkish state, in July, 2015, and resumed its armed campaign in which civilians were also targeted. In the clashes, the PKK's losses are estimated at around 4,000 militants.
Despite this considerable loss, the terrorist organization seems intent on escalating violence across the country, according to the latest statements by its leaders.