Turkish prime minister condemns vandalism

ANKARA

Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu condemned late Tuesday vandalism and violence carried out during anti-PKK demonstrations.

In posts on his official Twitter account, Davutoglu said: “Vandalizing properties, particularly of media outlets, political party centers and civilian properties cannot be accepted.”

He added: “The punishment of terror will be imposed by security forces and judiciary. Nobody should put themselves in the place of law.”

Referring to a recent funeral of a martyred member of the security forces he attended in the eastern province of Van, Davutoglu said the ceremony demonstrated that "all members of our nation stand against terror shoulder to shoulder. The joint effort we made against terror strengthens our brotherly bonds even more.

“The aim of terror is to harm our unshakeble brotherly bond and set one brother against another. I call all my citizens whose hearts are filled with the love of country to [be] calm, embrace each other and trust the state. While we are continuing [security] operations within the scope of the law with great determination. We will not allow a fight between brothers."

Across Turkey, two days of protests in response to Sunday's PKK attack in Hakkari, southeast Turkey, which saw 16 soldiers martyred in the deadliest attack since the PKK renewed its armed campaign at the end of July, have seen incidents of violence and destruction.

On Sunday night and Tuesday evening, the Hurriyet newspaper’s Istanbul office was pelted with stones after it was accused of distorting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party has reported a number of its offices around the country being attacked, the most recent on Tuesday night when its Ankara office was attacked and set on fire.

Since Sunday’s attack in Hakkari, 13 police officers have been martyred in Igdir province, close to the border with Armenia.

Turkey has responded by launching airstrikes on PKK bases in northern Iraq and the army has sent ground troops across the border to track down those behind Sunday’s blast.