‘Terrorist attack in southern Türkiye would not go unresponded’: Defense minister

ANKARA

The Turkish defense minister on Wednesday slammed a recent terrorist attack on a police station in Türkiye’s southern Mersin province, saying it would not go unresponded.

“We have the information that treacherous terrorists and scoundrels, who could not stand against Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq and Syria, organized these attacks in Syria,” Hulusi Akar told a Veterans Day event in the capital Ankara.

When the time comes, necessary actions will be taken to destroy the infrastructure and superstructure of those who carried out these attacks, said Akar.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu confirmed early Tuesday that a police officer was killed and another injured in a terrorist attack on a police station in Mersin.

The terrorists, who were wounded in the shootout, killed themselves by detonating explosives hidden in their backpacks after noticing they could not escape.

Soylu said they were members of the PKK terror group.

On Greece’s recent provocations against Türkiye in the Aegean Sea, Akar said: “We have given the necessary response to all kinds of unfair and unlawful attitudes and actions of Greece, on the field and at the table, in accordance with the principle of reciprocity, and it should be known that we will do so in the future.”

Akar reiterated Türkiye’s call on Greece to resolve the recent problems between the two countries through peaceful ways in accordance with international law, as part of good neighborly relations and mutual dialogue.

Referring to the Istanbul grain export deal, Akar said: ” Türkiye has carried out an active diplomacy under the leadership of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the face of the risk of energy and food crisis arising from the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”

Akar described the July agreement signed in Istanbul as “one of the greatest achievements of the UN” in recent years.

Since the first ship left Ukraine under the deal on Aug. 1, more than 200 ships with over 5 million tons of agricultural products have left ports, he said.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which paused after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February.

A Joint Coordination Center with officials from the three countries and the UN was set up in Istanbul to oversee the shipments.

• Hulusi Akar
• Mersin