Jigs
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Turkish military determined to fight terror, top general says - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review
Monday, June 21, 2010
FULYA ÖZERKAN
ÇANAKKALE - Hürriyet Daily News
Responding to claims that the military was unprepared for this weekend’s deadly attacks, Turkey’s top general said Monday that the fight against terrorism requires “patience” and there are no plans to declare a state of emergency.
“We are very much determined to fight terrorism until it is eliminated,” Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ told participants in the Silk Road 2010 Flag Officers seminar in the northwestern province of Çanakkale. “The fight is a long-term effort and requires patience.”
In his speech, Gen. Başbuğ said security, economic, cultural and psychological dimensions of the fight against terror complement each other but warned it would be a mistake to rely only on economic and social measures to eradicate terrorism – a remark interpreted as an implicit reference to the government-led Kurdish initiative to resolve the problem.
The top general also warned that no mistakes should be made in this process to counter terrorism and stressed that people’s hearts and minds must be won.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, staged attacks over the weekend that claimed the lives of 12 soldiers and sparked criticism of the current counter-terrorism efforts. In the early hours Saturday, PKK members attacked a mobile military unit at Gediktepe in the Şemdinli district of Hakkari province, close to Turkey’s borders with Iran and Iraq.
State of emergency ‘not an option’
Following his address at the annual conference, Gen. Başbuğ answered questions from reporters regarding the military’s efforts to fight the PKK. He said the military was not considering the option of declaring a state of emergency in eastern Turkey in response to the escalating terrorist attacks.
“Of course there are measures to be taken but declaring a state of emergency is not under consideration for the time being,” Gen. Başbuğ said.
Addressing claims that a group of 250 PKK members had conducted the weekend’s attacks, Başbuğ said the military had found out that the actual number was closer to 100. He also said he did not agree with claims that the military was experiencing intelligence-gathering problems.
“It is assumed there is a TV screen before us and northern Iraq is seen step by step. But this is not the case,” said Başbuğ. “This is not possible but technical opportunities are utilized in certain areas.”
The top commander stressed that the objective of the Turkish Armed Forces in the fight against terrorism is clear: to look for and capture the terrorists wherever they are and render them inactive.
“We are confronting armed terrorists. The fight against terror is hard, painful. We need to be patient. We’ll continue the fight in a determined fashion,” Başbuğ said. In his speech at the summit, he compared the military’s bravery and determination in the anti-terror fight to that shown in the triumph in Çanakkale in 1915.
“We understand the pain of the parents and relatives of the fallen soldiers. We are the ones who feel this pain the most after their parents,” the top general said.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
‘No problem’ with Heron vehicles, US intelligence
The top commander also ruled out allegations that the flow of intelligence from the United States had slowed. “There is no problem in intelligence sharing,” said Başbuğ, who thanked the United States for supplying the Turkish military with real-time intelligence technology.
Other claims have pinned the recent surge in deadly attacks on Israel’s failure to properly train the Turkish military in handling the unmanned Heron aerial vehicles that Turkey purchased from Israel to aid its operations against the PKK in southeastern Turkey.
“Those allegations do not reflect the truth of the matter,” Başbuğ said, while acknowledging that there were some problems with the use of the vehicles due to weather conditions.
“We have been using Herons in northern Iraq over the last 10 days,” he said.
Monday, June 21, 2010
FULYA ÖZERKAN
ÇANAKKALE - Hürriyet Daily News
Responding to claims that the military was unprepared for this weekend’s deadly attacks, Turkey’s top general said Monday that the fight against terrorism requires “patience” and there are no plans to declare a state of emergency.
“We are very much determined to fight terrorism until it is eliminated,” Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ told participants in the Silk Road 2010 Flag Officers seminar in the northwestern province of Çanakkale. “The fight is a long-term effort and requires patience.”
In his speech, Gen. Başbuğ said security, economic, cultural and psychological dimensions of the fight against terror complement each other but warned it would be a mistake to rely only on economic and social measures to eradicate terrorism – a remark interpreted as an implicit reference to the government-led Kurdish initiative to resolve the problem.
The top general also warned that no mistakes should be made in this process to counter terrorism and stressed that people’s hearts and minds must be won.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, staged attacks over the weekend that claimed the lives of 12 soldiers and sparked criticism of the current counter-terrorism efforts. In the early hours Saturday, PKK members attacked a mobile military unit at Gediktepe in the Şemdinli district of Hakkari province, close to Turkey’s borders with Iran and Iraq.
State of emergency ‘not an option’
Following his address at the annual conference, Gen. Başbuğ answered questions from reporters regarding the military’s efforts to fight the PKK. He said the military was not considering the option of declaring a state of emergency in eastern Turkey in response to the escalating terrorist attacks.
“Of course there are measures to be taken but declaring a state of emergency is not under consideration for the time being,” Gen. Başbuğ said.
Addressing claims that a group of 250 PKK members had conducted the weekend’s attacks, Başbuğ said the military had found out that the actual number was closer to 100. He also said he did not agree with claims that the military was experiencing intelligence-gathering problems.
“It is assumed there is a TV screen before us and northern Iraq is seen step by step. But this is not the case,” said Başbuğ. “This is not possible but technical opportunities are utilized in certain areas.”
The top commander stressed that the objective of the Turkish Armed Forces in the fight against terrorism is clear: to look for and capture the terrorists wherever they are and render them inactive.
“We are confronting armed terrorists. The fight against terror is hard, painful. We need to be patient. We’ll continue the fight in a determined fashion,” Başbuğ said. In his speech at the summit, he compared the military’s bravery and determination in the anti-terror fight to that shown in the triumph in Çanakkale in 1915.
“We understand the pain of the parents and relatives of the fallen soldiers. We are the ones who feel this pain the most after their parents,” the top general said.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
‘No problem’ with Heron vehicles, US intelligence
The top commander also ruled out allegations that the flow of intelligence from the United States had slowed. “There is no problem in intelligence sharing,” said Başbuğ, who thanked the United States for supplying the Turkish military with real-time intelligence technology.
Other claims have pinned the recent surge in deadly attacks on Israel’s failure to properly train the Turkish military in handling the unmanned Heron aerial vehicles that Turkey purchased from Israel to aid its operations against the PKK in southeastern Turkey.
“Those allegations do not reflect the truth of the matter,” Başbuğ said, while acknowledging that there were some problems with the use of the vehicles due to weather conditions.
“We have been using Herons in northern Iraq over the last 10 days,” he said.
