By Xinhua
Ankara : Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Sunday that his nation is exerting utmost efforts for a struggle against terrorism after an attack by militants of banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey killed 12 Turkish soldiers and wounded 16 others, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Speaking to reporters in central city of Kayseri, Gul said, “we are deeply saddened. I offer my condolences to families of our martyrs and wish quick recovery for wounded soldiers and civilians. Clashes still continue there.”
“Our nation has unity against terrorism. This fight is a long-run struggle. Our security forces are working really hard. Turkish nation and state are exerting utmost efforts for a total struggle against it,” he said.
Gul said government officials and military commanders would discuss recent developments later on Sunday evening, adding that he would also have a meeting with chairmen of political parties in the parliament on Monday.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced that a security summit is to be held at 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) under Gul’s chairmanship. Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit had also returned to Turkey from Italy for the security summit.
“Terror aims to weaken friendly ties. All of us must have unity against this trouble. We must back the state and security forces,” he said.
“Turkey does not have designs on Iraq’s territory. However, if Iraq keeps harboring terrorists, Turkey has the right to destroy it … Turkish parliament has already authorized the government,” said the president.
On Wednesday, the Turkish parliament approved a motion which backs a cross-border military operation in northern Iraq to fight against the PKK militants.
Earlier on Sunday, Turkish military said in a statement that its troops had killed 23 PKK militants in clashes in Yuksekove town in Hakkari Province following the PKK attack in southeastern Turkey which killed 12 Turkish soldiers.
The statement added that the military operation in pursuit of the PKK rebels are continuing in the region.
The PKK has increased its attacks on government troops in southeastern Turkey, which led to rising Turkish demands for an incursion into northern Iraq to crush the rebels based there.
The group, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.