Turkey's next Chief of General Staff General Ilker Basbug said on Wednesday that Turkey would continue to combat the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which has been staging attacks against military and civilian targets in Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
"As a result of operations carried out, the terrorist organization is about to reach a breaking point as it happened several times in the past. Turkey should scrutinizingly focus on how to take advantage of the situation," Basbug told a ceremony where he handed over land forces command to General Isik Kosaner.
Basbug will take charge as chief of general staff on Saturday, the day of Turkey's festival of victory.
Pledging that Turkey would continue to combat terrorism, Basbug said, "the principal objective of the fight against terrorism is to destroy hopes of the terrorist organization and its supporters."
Basbug said that control over borders in addition to continuous military operations in the country were essential to achieving success against the terrorist organization.
He also said that the government should find out why people join the organization and take measures to prevent them from joining it.
The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. About 40,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.
Turkey has conducted frequent air raids on suspected positions of the PKK in northern Iraq, which serve as a launch pad for the rebel group's cross-border attacks on Turkey.
Source:Xinhua
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