Can Erözden
October 14, 2018•Update: October 15, 2018
By Bayram Altug
GENEVA
No country and no person can feel safe in the face of global terrorism, Turkey’s parliament speaker said on Sunday, stressing that terrorism has no borders.
"Istanbul is as safe as London. Cairo is as safe as Washington," said Binali Yildirim in Geneva, Switzerland, attending the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) Coordination Meeting.
In the opening speech of the meeting, Yildirim, who is the assembly's term president, said that terrorists are enemies of humanity and countries should never compromise in the fight against terror.
"All countries should prioritize neutralizing terror and terrorists. Generally we see the 'Islamic terrorist' characterization, but everyone should know that all terrorists -- regardless of their religion, ethnic roots, belief, or affiliation -- are enemies of humanity," he added.
Yildirim stated that even as Turkey has paid a steep price for decades of PKK terrorism -- some 40,000 lives -- since 2016 its army struck major blows to Daesh and PKK/PYD/YPG terrorism through its cross-border operations in Syria, Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch.
The two operations meant to rid Syrian-Turkish border areas of terrorist groups such as the PKK/PYD, which threatens both Turkey and the local population.
Yildirim said that all countries are affected by global problems and that terrorism, extremism, regional crises, irregular migration, poverty, and humanitarian crises became the world's chronic crises.
Yildirim added that Asia and Turkey share problems in common and both should seek solutions to these problems.
After the meeting, Yildirim and his parliamentary delegation went to Lausanne to meet with locals with roots in Turkey.
