Addressing a convention of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye would ensure its security starting in 2025.
“We will eliminate threats posed beyond our southern borders,” he said, referring to the terrorist group PKK, which occupies several regions in Iraq and Syria, situated kilometers away from Turkish border towns.
Erdoğan said at the event in the western province of Balıkesir that they would resolve Türkiye’s acute problems, particularly the threat of terrorism and asked the public to have “more patience.”
The president often warns PKK/YPG which carved out a bastion for itself in Syria’s northeast to surrender and earlier this week, said they would either “bury their arms” or themselves would “be buried.” Syria’s new administration is on the same page with Ankara on the existence of the terrorist group and called them to dissolve themselves.
Erdoğan also spoke about Türkiye’s role as a haven for refugees during Syria’s civil war. “We were on the right side of history,” he said, citing the embrace of millions of refugees. “Now they can leave for their homeland but somehow, those who sought to exploit this situation for their own propaganda are bothered by their returns,” he said, referring to the opposition. “They are also almost mourning the end of the Baathist regime,” Erdoğan criticized the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).