News / Turkey

Ankara announces new anti-terror 'action plan' in wake of blast

Saturday, 20 February 2016 9:50 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 21 February 2016 1:54 AM ]

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrives to speak to the press after a security meeting in the governor's office in Ankara on February 20, 2016. (photos by AFP)

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says his country is set to introduce fresh security measures following a recent blast that claimed the lives of 28 people in Ankara.

After a meeting with security chiefs in the capital Ankara on Saturday, Davutoglu said that a new anti-terrorism “action plan” is currently being prepared.

"We are going to make changes in the matter of security," he said, noting that the number of security forces in the country would increase and that their presence would become "more visible."

"Terrorist groups aim to cause trauma and chaos among the population. We must all assist the security forces," he said, adding that, "No security efforts can succeed without the support of the people.”

He also rejected the TAK (Kurdistan Freedom Hawks) militant group’s claim of responsibility for Wednesday's car bombing, stressing that the Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) were responsible for the blast.

The leader of the YPG has denied being behind the attack, saying Turkey wants to escalate its attacks in Syria.

Ankara has been shelling YPG positions in northern Syria over the last few days in an attempt to stop Kurdish forces from reaching the border with Turkey.

*Turkish army tanks stationed near the Oncupinar crossing gate near the town of Kilis, south central Turkey, fire towards the Syria border, on February 16, 2016.*

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country reserves its right to carry out domestic and foreign operations against threats.

“Turkey will use its right to expand its rules of engagement beyond [responding to] actual attacks against it and to encompass all terror threats, including PYD and Daesh in particular,” he said during a UNESCO meeting in Istanbul.

Turkey regards the YPG and PYD as an ally of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.

“Nobody can limit Turkey in using its right of self-defense against terror attacks targeting the country,” Erdogan said. “Whoever prevents us from using our right of self-defense, we will recognize it as a terrorist and act accordingly.”

Along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Turkey has been implicated in support for Daesh Takfiris and other foreign-backed groups aiming to bring down the Syrian government.

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