No tolerance for terror-linked state workers: Erdogan

By Kemal Karadag and Ilkay Guder

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that the government would not tolerate any “state within a state,” specifically targeting government workers thought to have helped the terrorist organization PKK.

"Those civil servants found to have a connection with PKK terrorist organization will have legal action taken against them and be removed from their posts," Erdogan said, speaking at an iftar (fast-breaking dinner) in the capital city Ankara.

Erdogan said that there are doctors who provide medicine to terrorists or teachers who recruit members for the organization. "These is some slanted tendency within the state, and that is unacceptable," he said.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, over 500 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and more than 5,000 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

*Anadolu Agency correspondent Burcu Arik contributed to this report from Istanbul.