Erdogan vows to defeat terrorism in Eid message

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his government’s commitment to eliminating IS in Syria and the threat the group poses to Turkey.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), whose regional politicians were the among the chief targets of the move, denounced the reshuffle as a “coup”.

The removed officials are suspected of colluding with groups the government considers terrorist organizations, the Interior Ministry announced Sunday, adding that the decision was in line with a governmental decree enacted in the wake of a failed military coup.

Erdogan said last week that the campaign against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy, was now Turkey’s largest ever and that the removal of civil servants linked to them was a key part of the fight.

“Our Red Crescent is working to reach al-Rai and Jarablus as well, in co-ordination with (the Turkish disaster management agency) AFAD”, he said, referring to two Syrian border towns. Gulen denies any involvement.

As Erdoğan touched upon Operation Euphrates Shield, he stated that “Finishing Daesh is an obligation”.

“The PKK has suffered a distinct failure in these bloody attacks, which it has conducted at the cost of its most serious losses in its history”, Erdogan said on Sunday. The SDF and YPG have played a leading role in a US -led campaign against Islamic State in Syria. Turkey views the Kurdish militia as an extension of the PKK and fears that Kurdish gains there will fuel separatist sentiment on its own soil.