Turkey has killed 1,300 Islamic State members: Top general

ISTANBUL: Turkey's top general on Wednesday said that the Turkish Armed Forces have killed almost 1,300 Islamic state terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

Addressing the 10th Conference of Balkan Countries Chiefs of General Staff in Istanbul, Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar remarked, "In addition to the bloody suicide attacks against our important provinces, Kilis on the [Syrian] border has recently been targeted by IS".

"The Republic of Turkey sees IS as a terrorist organization, this was made clear in 2013,” Akar added, saying thatIS does not represent Islam or Muslims.

"The Turkish Armed Forces have killed almost 1,300 ISterrorists in Syria and Iraq and destroyed a great number of weapons, rockets, weapon caches, vehicles, and buildings," he stated.

Akar also said that Ankara is continuing its determined fight against the PKK terrorist organization.

"While the PKK is killing innocent people, it works to gain legitimacy in international public opinion. Similarly, IS is one of the barbaric terrorist organizations threatening especially our region and the world generally," he said.

PKK – listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S., and EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, more than 430 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards have been martyred, and more than 3,800 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

In addition, Akar spoke about the migration of refugees.

"As you all know, we work intensely against irregular migration in our region. We are in coordination and in close cooperation with related countries and NATO," he said, adding, "Turkey caught around 132,000 illegal migrants over the last three years in the Aegean Sea".

He added that countries cannot work against those threats alone, so an international solution is required.

Greek islands in the Aegean have been the main gateways to Europe for the last two years. Since 2015, nearly 1 million war refugees and migrants have entered Greece by sea, according to United Nations refugee agency data.

Akar stated that over the last three years Turkey has taken its security measures to the highest level along the Syrian and Iraqi borders with its staff, technology, and resources to fight terror and the illegal border crossings and other movements of foreign terrorists.

"Approximately 375,000 people were caught on Turkey's Syrian border since 2011, when the Syria crisis began. This figure does not include legal refugees," he said.

"The Syria crisis, where the most severe clashes happen, is the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II. This crisis caused the death of at least 500,000 people and made millions of people leave their homes. Unfortunately, Syria was transformed into a quagmire", Akar said.

The top general stated that the Syria crisis affects both its neighbors and the entire world.

"Almost 5 million Syrians are living abroad, especially in neighboring countries. Approximately 3 million Syrians are being hosted in Turkey," Akar stated.

He added that this figure means Turkey has the highest number of refugees in the world.

"The Republic of Turkey has spent almost $10 billion for the refugees from its own national budget. Despite all these difficulties, Ankara continues to apply the open-door policy for all refugees", he remarked.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures.

Around 2.7 million Syrians who have fled the civil war in their country are being sheltered at camps inside Turkey, with many others living in cities and elsewhere.

The conflict in Syria has now driven more than 4 million people – a sixth of the country’s population – to seek sanctuary in neighboring countries, making it the largest refugee crisis in a quarter-century, according to the UN.

AA