Turkish PM reiterates determination in terror fight

by Halil Sahin

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) – Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim Saturday reiterated his country's determination in fighting terror organizations PKK and Daesh.

Yidirim was peaking at an opening ceremony of a youth center named after a murder victim as part of events commemorating the 95th anniversary of western Izmir’s liberation from Greek forces.

“What we thought about when naming this center after Yasin Boru is: This country will always maintain its unity, solidarity, and brotherhood. The city of Izmir is the symbol unity and solidarity,” Yildirim said.

“We do not want to see our young ones be part of dark feuds,” he added.

On Oct. 5, 2014, 16-year-old Yasin Boru and his friends, Ahmet Dakak, Riyat Gunes and Hasan Gokguz, who were distributing food aid to syrian refugees, were chased down and lynched by alleged pro-PKK supporters on the second day of Eid al-Adha.

The murderers had accused Boru and his friends of being Daesh members before killing them, according to the indictment.

A court in Ankara on April 24 convicted 24 out of 41 suspects, sentencing them to life in prison for their involvement in the murder of the teenagers.

The court said the sentence had been handed down for "killing by torture and with atrocious feelings" as well as "disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state".

The prime minister attended a number of other events in Turkey’s third largest city for the anniversary, including a groundbreaking ceremony for three stadiums, an opening ceremony for a new line of a commuter rail system and another for a 250-bed hospital.

The Greek occupied Izmir on May 15, 1919. It was one of the events that sparked the war between Turkey and Greece. On Sept. 9, 1922, the Turkish Army took Izmir back after a three-year occupation.