Merve Berker and Mehmet Tosun
18 April 2022•Update: 18 April 2022
ANKARA
Turkiye’s fight with the terrorist PKK/YPG in Syria and Iraq will continue, but foreign help is needed to cut the group off from all its financial resources, the nation’s president said Monday.
“We are determined to continue this struggle until terrorism ceases to be a threat to our country, our region, and all of humanity,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in the capital Ankara after an iftar (fast-breaking) dinner with a group of ambassadors for the holy month of Ramadan.
Turkiye is waging a constant struggle against all forms of terrorism, regardless of who and where the source is, especially the PKK/YPG, Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), and Daesh/ISIS, he added.
Addressing his remarks to foreign countries’ ambassadors, he stressed that Turkiye expects strong support from all friendly countries, especially in cutting off terrorist groups’ financial resources.
“Terrorists and neo-Nazi organizations should also be prevented from exploiting the democratic system,” Erdogan stressed.
“In particular, Islamic and xenophobic groups should not be given the opportunity to use freedom of expression and freedom of assembly as a means of insulting and attacking the beliefs or sacred places of worship of Muslims.”
- Al-Aqsa, Eastern Mediterranean
On Israel's intervention against Muslim worshipers at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque, which he condemned on Sunday, Erdogan called it “really a source of sadness” for Turkiye.
“We never want to go through this,” he stressed. “I hope that we will not go through this again in the process that follows."
"We support all kinds of normalization steps that will contribute to the formation of a belt of peace and stability in our immediate environment," Erdogan said.
Ankara prioritizes ensuring stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and on the island of Cyprus, and strives for a just, realistic and sustainable solution, he added.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
Tension has mounted across the Palestinian territories since Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard on Friday amid clashes with worshippers, injuring hundreds.
On Sunday, more than 700 Israeli settlers forced their way into the mosque complex under heavy police protection to celebrate the week-long Jewish Passover holiday, which started on Friday.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.
