Davutoglu re-affirms Turkey's anti-terror resolve

ISTANBUL

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has reiterated his Justice and Development (AK) Party's commitment in the fight to eradicate terrorism as Turkey’s early general election looms.

"Let there be no doubt on this: The life and rights of each citizen are a trust conferred to us, and we will never ever tolerate terrorism," he told an AK Party rally in Istanbul ahead of Nov. 1 polls.

Davutoglu stressed that his government has been pursuing the counter-terror struggle "without any wavering of democracy" for the last three months since July 20 Suruc bombing which has been followed by a series of deadly terrorist attacks, including the Oct. 10 Ankara twin suicide bombings that left 102 people dead.

The Turkish army and police have been conducting operations against the terrorist organization PKK as the violence saw over 150 security forces martyred, while more than 2,000 PKK terrorists have been killed.

"We will continue to fight until weapons are buried, terrorism stops, and all our mountains, plains and valleys are cleared off. They thought they could create an atmosphere of chaos in the country after June 7 [elections] but we will never allow them," Davutoglu said.

The Turkish premier also lashed out at the attempts to “dress up” the PKK and its supporters as a "pigeon of peace".

"Will you bring peace by digging ditches, laying ambush and killing civilians? It is nothing but a lie and hypocrisy," he said.

Davutoglu also emphasized his party’s projects and the headway Turkey has made under more than 13 years of AK Party rule before the June 7 elections, where no political party succeeded in creating a ruling coalition.