Turkey to Continue Attacks Until PKK Surrenders, ISIL Threat is Eliminated

Ankara will not stop its attacks until the threats from ISIL and the Kurdistan Workers' Party are eliminated.

ANKARA (Sputnik) – The Turkish army will continue its military campaign against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) until the militants put down their weapons, the country's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday.

Last week, Turkey launched a two-front military campaign against Islamic State jihadists in Syria and the PKK in northern Iraq.

"The operation will last until the [PKK] armed factions leave the country and lay down their arms, and the threat posed by Islamic State is eliminated," Davutoglu said, speaking in Turkey's Chamber of Commerce.

According to the prime minister, the actions of the Turkish government against the terrorist threat were correct and timely.

"If we had not immediately responded to the attack…Turkey would be in a state of chaos," Davutoglu said.

The military action came in response to a string of deadly attacks attributed to ISIL and the PKK in southern Turkey.

On July 20, a suicide bombing took place in the Turkish border city of Suruc, killing more than 30 people, most of them Kurds. The attack was reportedly committed by ISIL. In response, Kurdish militia killed two policemen in Turkey, justifying the murders by claiming the officers had backed the Islamic State.