20 March 2016•Update: 21 March 2016
ISTANBUL
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the PKK and Daesh terrorist organizations are serving evil agendas of other forces by carrying out attacks in Turkey.
In remarks made during a speech at an educational conference in Istanbul Sunday, Erdogan said: “When we think about why terrorist organizations such as the PKK and Daesh are targeting our country, we come across other forces and their intentions about Turkey”.
He said that both terrorist groups had the same end goal and were helping “the dirty agendas” of such forces despite having different names and using different methods.
Daesh is suspected of being behind Saturday’s blast on Istanbul’s Istiklal Street, which killed four people including three Israelis and an Iranian.
PKK tent incident in Brussels
Erdogan also slammed the Belgian government over the recent PKK tent incident in Brussels.
On Thursday, the Belgian government had allowed PKK supporters to pitch their tents near the venue of the Turkey-EU summit in Brussels.
Although flags of the terrorist group were removed ahead of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit, they were put back up after his departure.
“They call it 'freedom of thought'. What kind of a freedom of thought is that?” Erdogan asked.
“What was I supposed to say? Would I applaud you, and say that you did a good job?" he added.
"As long as you let those rags [flags] fly, you will keep hearing these remarks from us,” he said, adding that he asked Davutoglu to contact the Belgian authorities, followed by summoning of the Belgian ambassador to the Turkish Foreign Ministry Sunday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also called his Belgian counterpart Didier Reynders to express Turkey’s concerns.
Erdogan said friends should act as friends, and questioned Belgium's friendship: "What kind of a friendship is that?
“What we want is to make more friends, and fewer enemies. But, I think it is also our right to put those who do not know this in their place,” he said.
