17 January 2017•Update: 18 January 2017
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday once again "Turkey is engaged in a new War of Independence".
In his address at the opening ceremony of social security institution (SGK) buildings in the capital Ankara, Erdogan expressed the country’s determination to fight against terrorism.
Regarding the arrest of Istanbul’s Ortakoy nightclub shooter, Erdogan said, “Nobody will get away with what they have done in this country; everybody will be accountable in terms of the principles of the state of law.”
He said the capture of the terror suspect was an important sign of this security understanding.
Erdogan went on to say, “All terror groups serve a single mission which aimed to halt Turkey’s progress and divert its focus from 2023 targets by promoting terrorism against the country’s integrity and unity.”
He also asserted that all incidents Turkey has been through since 2013 show that, “Turkey is engaged in the War of Independence.”
“This time our interlocutors do not appear as such enemies using their names and soldiers, it is terror groups who serve them as tools, no matter what discourse they create and names they bear.. the PKK, the Daesh, the PYD, FETO and DHKP-C, all of them are players of the same scenario.”
Economic terror
Erdogan vowed to fight against those trying to block financial development. “If those who own the financial sectors don't provide credit to entrepreneurs and investors, they will face us, the government.”
He later characterized such efforts as “terrorising economy.”
“It is understood that the reactions against Turkey’s involvement are because of the spoiled game. Delaying operations all the time in Syria and Iraq did not serve peoples' peace and security. On the contrary, it had a purpose of providing a basis for greater terror wave in the region including Turkey.”
Reporting by Kemal Karadag, Enes Duran and Ilhan Toprak; Writing by Ahmet Sait Akcay
