Articles About Terrorist Activities

Ankara, Turkish Daily News

Turkey’s former coordinator against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, yesterday criticized European Union countries for their ignorance of the country’s fight against terrorism. 
Retired Gen. Edip Başer, speaking at a panel hosted by the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said the Turkish public was extremely concerned by the “insincere” European attitude.

He complained that PKK members were being harbored in European territory and that the leaders of the group, wanted on Interpol’s Red Bulletin, were not being extradited to Turkey.

“The Turkish public is following these developments with surprise,” said Başer at the panel on German-Turkish Security Dialogue.

The retired general’s criticism of EU member states was not confined to the fight against the PKK. Başer lashed out at European countries for their failure to understand Turkey’s concerns over the secularism principle, one of the untouchables of the Turkish Constitution.

Referring, without naming, to the closure case opened against the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Başer argued some countries attempted to interfere in the Turkish judiciary.

“All of this makes us question what sort of a Turkey Europe wants to see,” he said.

Touching on the security concept, Başer said the existing problems in the Middle East stemmed from five reasons: Historical facts, presence in the region of 60 percent of the world’s hydrocarbon reserves, border problems, Western countries’ colonial approach, and the presence of Israel and its desire for expansion.

Retired Gen. Klaus Naumann, former Chief of German General Staff speaking at the same panel, underlined that Turkey must permanently be tied to Europe because without Turkey the resolution of the problems are not realistic.

 “Turkey’s integration into the West is a strategic must. If we lose Turkey, there will be a vacuum that cannot be filled. All the partners must be ready for a compromise as Europe cannot be a global actor without Turkey,” he said. 

Source: www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=108266