Anti-terror ops saved Turkey from worse: deputy PM

ANKARA

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan said Turkey would have been in a worse state if it were not for the recent counter-terrorism operations both inside and outside the country.

"If the government had not made the decision at the time and resolutely addressed the issue by launching these operations, Turkey would have drifted to a different point," he told an interview with private news channel Kanal 24 late on Tuesday.

Turkish security forces have been carrying out operations against the PKK at home and abroad since late July, amid a spike in attacks targeting security personnel.

Akdogan stressed that it is the actions of the PKK that led Turkey to launch the operations.

"They are using some political arguments like 'The government started war,' but it is not a war at all," he said.

He said that the operations were not the reason for, but the result of, the violence, adding that the state embarked on its course of action in face of an "obvious riot attempt" which also aimed at derailing the ‘solution process’.

"The anti-terror fight is against attacks which target the citizens of the Republic of Turkey and its security forces. Its aim is to protect the nation, not the state itself," he added.

Turkish Interior Minister Selami Altinok told Anadolu Agency’s Editor's Desk on Monday: "Since July 22, a total of 2,483 terrorist attacks have taken place in Turkey. Gendarmerie, Turkish security and armed forces have conducted 4,328 operations in the country during which over 2,000 terrorists were neutralized."

Nov.1 election

As for Nov. 1 general election prospects for his Justice and Development (AK) Party, Akdogan told Kanal 24 that latest surveys indicate an upward trend in the AK Party vote, from the last polls figure of 40.8 percent to a level somewhere between 44-45 percent.

Turkey is heading for an early general election after no party succeeded in creating a ruling coalition after the June 7 general election.

More than 54 million people are eligible to vote on Nov. 1.

Turkish nationals living abroad will begin casting their votes on Oct. 8-25 at embassies, consulates and border gates.