Wait until Ramadan end, PM Erdoğan warns PKK

Turkey will take tougher measures against terrorists after Ramadan comes to an end, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Sunday while expressing his anger over the recent escalating terror acts.

“If we show patience, it is because of the holy month of Ramadan,” Erdoğan said late Sunday on the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, 10th anniversary, adding that their policy will drastically change once the religious holiday has ended.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has increased its attacks against security forces since mid-July when it ended its unilateral cease-fire following the June 12 general elections. The PKK killed 13 troops in the Silvan district of Diyarbakır province on July 14 in the highest casualties recorded in a single attack since late 2008. The government and military have been considering ways to respond to such attacks and decided to give more of a role to police in the anti-terror fight.

Highlighting the increasing number of military casualties due to terrorist attacks, Erdoğan said the situation would not be tolerated much longer. The problem, according to Erdoğan, is not only a security issue but also a diplomatic, psychological and social economic one.

“We will [solve terror] with patience. If we show patience, it is because of the holy month of Ramadan. You can be sure that after Ramadan is over, peace in Turkey will reach a turning point,” said Erdoğan, while expressing his grief over the Turkish soldiers who were killed by terrorists during the Ramadan holiday.

He did not further elaborate on what would be the new measures. The National Security Council, or MGK, will convene Thursday to discuss the developments and review the state of the anti-terror fight.

More recently, four police officers were injured in southeastern Turkey when their vehicle set off a landmine suspected to have been planted by the PKK, local security forces said. The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by the U.S., Turkey and the European Union, took up arms in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.

Slamming the BDP

The prime minister also criticized the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, for not denouncing terrorism and for self-declaring what they call democratic autonomy.

“Those who don’t distance themselves from the terrorist organization are partners in the crime,” Erdoğan said. “Let me be clear. Those who cast a shadow on peace in Turkey and shed blood will pay the price for their actions, and the payment will be heavy.”

Targeting the BDP, Erdoğan once again pointed out that the democratic and legal solution to theproblems can only be achieved in Parliament. “No one can set up illegal ‘parliaments’ in Turkey and operate in the country,” he said.

BDP-supported deputies are boycotting Parliament as five of their deputies who were recently elected have not been released from prison.

Erdoğan also dismissed possibilities of a democratic autonomy for Kurds. “There is no such thing in our book. No one can threaten us.”

He also criticized the pro-Kurdish politicians for imposing their own Friday prayers in a predominantly Kurdish region in Southeast Anatolia. “[The terrorists] have nothing to do with religion. We have already declared that the Kurds at Imrali are Zoroastrians. But I know that my Kurdish brothers and sisters will say they are Muslims. What [the terrorists] are trying to do is to divide and conquer. They’re only watching from the sidelines. But we will not give them credit. We will solve it all, don’t worry,” he said.

/Hurriyet Daily News/