Goal of emergency powers to defeat terror, Erdoğan says

The main role of the state of emergency is to defeat terrorism, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday.

Emergency powers were introduced in the days after the last year’s attempted coup and have allowed the government to arrest tens of thousands suspected of involvement in the bid or of ties to terror groups such as the PKK.

“The most important feature of the state of emergency is to defeat terrorist organizations and bury them,” Erdoğan said.

He added: “My responsibility as head of state will not be fulfilled until my people from the southeast, east and my [whole] country achieve peace.”

The state of emergency was extended for a further three months in July and has also been used to pursue those suspected of ties to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, which is said to have orchestrated the coup attempt.

“We only have one flag, one land and one state, one state within 780,000 square kilometres,” Erdoğan said. “We will destroy those who want to divide this land.”

The president said Turkey would “never allow” the PKK/PYD -- the Syrian affiliate of the PKK, which has waged a 33-year war against Turkey -- to “establish a so-called state in northern Syria”.

The PKK/PYD controls large swathes of northeast Syria along the Turkish border and a pocket of land around Afrin in the west.

“I believe that my Kurdish brothers will never give an opportunity to such a formation in the north of Syria and south of Turkey,” he said.

“Turkey will not allow a state to be established in northern Syria by the PYD/YPG. Some call it a Kurdish state, but I take this as an insult to my Kurdish brothers. I believe my Kurdish brothers will not allow such a formation in northern Syria, which is Turkey’s south,” Erdoğan said during a meeting with Turkey’s headmen on Tuesday.

“We went to Jarabulus, Ra, and al-Bab. We secured 2,000 square kilometers of land. Their aim was to reach the Mediterranean. We will continue to do what we did in Judi, Tendürek, Qandil and Gabar wherever we see the same things,” he continued.

The PYD and YPG terrorist groups follow the leftist ideology of Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who has fought a three-decade insurgency in Turkey.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.

The president slammed foreign powers that try to maintain tutelage over Turkey, and said that Turkey would continue to develop.

“Those who dream of a Turkey they can control seethe with rage as we stand tall. We will never go back to being the old Turkey. We will certainly find a way to solve the problems in our path. We will continue to advance toward our goals,” said Erdoğan.

The president reiterated that national priorities were on the top of Ankara’s agenda.

“We know very well how those who speak with arrogance about democracy and human rights when it comes to Turkey’s domestic matters act in their own interests. We will continue to give priority to our own agenda,” Erdoğan said.

“The past 16 years have not been easy. Leftists, who are communists, can never be patriotic or serve their country,” he said.