Some 500 PKK militants killed in one month: Turkish PM

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. AA Photo

Some 500 suspected members of outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) have been killed in one month by Turkish security forces in operations against the militants, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today, AFP has reported.
 
"In operations held during the past month, some 500 militants were rendered ineffective in the (southeast) region," Erdoğan said in remarks televised by NTV news channel.

‘The richest Jew in the world’ visits Erdoğan

Asked about the current state of Israeli-Turkish relations, Erdoğan said Israel only had ties with one Muslim country and suggested that Tel Aviv should maintain good relations with Turkey, daily Hürriyet reported.

“They sent the richest Jewish man in the world [to us] a couple of months ago. What was the reason? He was supposed to be intercessor,” Erdoğan said, adding that Turkey had three conditions for restoring ties with Israel, namely, that it apologizes for the 2010 Mavi Marmara raid that killed nine Turkish activists, pays compensation to the families of the victims and lifts the blockade on Gaza.

The Jewish businessman in question is reportedly Ronald Lauder, a leading figure in the cosmetics sector who has been listed as one of the richest people in the world by Forbes, according to reports.

‘Mind your own business,’ Erdoğan tells TÜSİAD head

Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) Chairwoman Ümit Boyner should “mind her own business,” the prime minister has said after she questioned the government’s silence over a deadly blast at a military depot and last year’s Uludere air strike.

Boyner had asked the government on Sept. 15 to give an ear to its citizens. “It is not acceptable to suppress the citizens’ demands. Citizens want to understand what happened in Uludere, the reasons for the blast [at the military depot] in Afyonkarahisar; the citizens want to know who is responsible for such events.”

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded, saying: “To be informed is our right and so on. ... Whose right is what, what’s the limit? Boyner will not decide those limits; let her mind her own business.”

Erdoğan made the comments in Sarajevo, where he was attending the 550th anniversary of the city’s foundation.

Erdoğan also commented on the movie “The Innocence of Muslims,” which has sparked violent protests across the Muslim world.

“We gave messages in Yalta; we saw that the process is continuing and decided to emphasize our message more strongly this time,” he said. “There is no sign of more [protests] on the horizon.”

Erdoğan also said he would soon bring the issue to the United Nations’ agenda in an effort to have Islamophobia included within the scope of “hate crimes.”

“The limits of freedom of expression and conscience end where others’ rights begin. You can say anything about religion, ideas and faith, but you have to stop when you cross the other’s [limit],” Erdoğan said.