UPDATE - Turkey reaffirms support for Palestine

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

By Ilkay Guder and Ali Kemal Akan

ANKARA (AA) – The National Security Council reaffirmed on Wednesday Turkey’s support to the Palestine cause.

In a statement, Turkey’s top council said that Ankara would continue to support the Palestinian cause on all international platforms.

The meeting lasted three hours and 15 minutes and chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Tension has mounted in the Palestinian territories since last December, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

On May 14, the U.S. relocated its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, drawing condemnation from across the Arab and Muslim world and further enflaming passions in the Palestinian territories.

Since March 30, at least 118 Palestinians have been killed -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire in the eastern Gaza Strip.

-Election security

The statement said the council was briefed about security measures to be taken during the June 24 early presidential and general elections.

The statement added that Turkey will not hesitate to use the rights arising from international agreements against the “provocations” in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean seas.

A decades-long dispute between Turkey and Greece over the uninhabited Aegean islets brought the two countries to the brink of an armed conflict in 1996.

-Fight against terror

The statement also underlined Turkey’s determination in the fight against terrorism. Anti-terror operations against FETO/PDY, PKK/PYD-YPG, and Daesh will continue inside and outside of Turkey, the statement added.

The operations which will continue “until all terrorist threats against Turkey are annihilated,” will be supported with the diplomacy, the statement added.

Turkish National Security Council statement also said that countries providing “open or secret” support to “project terrorist organizations” should act in accordance with the international law.

The PYD and its military wing YPG are Syrian branches of the PKK terrorist network, which has waged war against Turkey for more than 30 years.

Since the PKK launched its terror campaign in Turkey in 1984, tens of thousands of people have been killed.

The U.S. and the coalition have largely ignored the links of the PYD/YPG group with the PKK, which the U.S. and the EU also list as a terrorist group.

Turkey has repeatedly objected to U.S. support for the terrorist PKK/PYD as a “reliable ally” in Syria, which has included supplying arms and equipment.


The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.