The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group that encompasses the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has said there is no option for Kurds in Turkey other than declaring autonomy for themselves. report zaman
The KCK’s executive committee asserted in a statement on Wednesday that the so-called people’s assembly of Silopi, Cizre, Nusaybin and Şırnak had previously declared that they would not recognize any state institution, declare self-rule and “use their legitimate self-defense rights if their self-rule is attacked.”
Recalling statements by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday in which he said an aerial campaign against PKK targets will continue until terrorist organizations stop posing a threat against the country, the KCK statements said, “there is no option other than autonomy for Kurds in the face of a political mentality which insists on a nation-state and which does not recognize local democracy.”
In a speech at a ceremony at the presidential palace late on Tuesday, Erdoğan vowed to continue military operations against the PKK “until not one terrorist is left.” He emphasized that stopping armed attacks would not be enough to maintain security, insisting that the “guns should be buried in cement.”
“Our fight will continue until terrorist organizations stop posing a threat to our country; until guns pointed at our state and our people are buried. I would like to put an emphasis here. Stopping gunfire is not enough. The guns should be laid down and buried. I insist on that. Our fight will continue until the guns are buried in cement and not one terrorist is left within our borders,” he said.
The Turkish military has ratcheted up pressure on the terrorist group with a fresh round of air strikes in southeastern Turkey, as the PKK claimed responsibility for the bombing of a police station in İstanbul on Monday.
Warplanes pounded 17 targets in the province of Hakkari on Monday and Tuesday, the military said, part of a renewed crackdown on the PKK.