Turkish FM vows no tolerance in fight against terrorism

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Friday that Turkey would show no tolerance or weakness in the fight against terrorism.

Gul made the vow during an interview with the state-run TRT channel as demonstrations and riots continued in southeastern Turkey which have left at least seven people, including a three- year-old boy, dead and hundreds wounded since Tuesday.

The demonstrations by Kurds were staged since Tuesday's funerals of four of 14 Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) members, who were killed last week in a military operation launched by Turkish security forces.

Gul said that six of the 14 PKK members, who were killed in an operation in rural areas between eastern cities of Bingol and Mus, were from foreign countries, including three Syrians, two Iranians and one Iraqi.

Gul also accused the PKK, outlawed in Turkey, of attempting to use the continuous demonstrations as a means of propaganda, warning of firm actions.

"It must be known that the Republic of Turkey is very strong and our security forces are very powerful. Certainly there are many ways to fight terrorism. We will show everybody that our units which fight against terrorists are acting consciously," he said.

But "nobody should doubt, if necessary, police, gendarmery and military units will take action," he stressed.

In addition, the Turkish top diplomat said that the PKK did not want villages to be developed and was attempting to sabotage the government's efforts in rural development.

"Our security forces have the capacity to overcome these problems," he added.

Gul made the statements as an explosion killed at least one person and injured dozens of others in Turkish largest city of Istanbul on Friday.

A group calling itself the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons claimed responsibility, saying that the attack was in retaliation for the killings of the Kurds in southeastern Turkey during the past few days.

The PKK launched an armed campaign against Ankara in 1984, fighting for the establishment of an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey.

Fighting has subdued significantly since the PKK commander Abdullah Ocalan was captured in 1999. But the PKK called off a unilateral ceasefire in 2004, disrupting the fragile peace.

More than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed in the violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast since then.

Ankara refuses to negotiate with the PKK, deeming it as a terrorist organization.

Source: Xinhua