President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned on Saturday that Turkey would continue military operations against outlawed Kurdish militants unless they kept their pledge to disband, Agence France-Presse reported.
“If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay … or deceive … we will continue our ongoing operations … until we eliminate the last terrorist,” Erdoğan said at a fast-breaking dinner in İstanbul.
He made his threat hours after the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) declared a ceasefire following a call by its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan to disband.
The PKK said earlier on Saturday it would comply with Öcalan’s call to lay down arms and disband, adding: “None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked.”
The process started in October when Devlet Bahçeli — leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a close ally of Erdoğan’s — offered Öcalan an olive branch if he would publicly renounce terrorism.
In an address to the relatives of people killed or wounded in PKK attacks, Erdoğan said there was nothing in the initiative “that would disturb the sacred spirits of our martyrs.”
He said Turkey would be the winner, as well as “our children, the guarantee of our bright tomorrows.”
The Turkish leader warned, however, “We always keep our iron fist ready in case the hand we extend is left hanging in the air or bitten.”
That was an implicit reference to the PKK, designated as a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies.