Erdoğan vows Türkiye won’t back down from anti-terror bid

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 8 vowed that his government would press ahead with its "terror-free Türkiye" initiative, describing it as a cornerstone of national security and regional stability.

“The terror-free Türkiye [project] is a fortified position established in the consciousness and hearts of our nation against the struggle for power waged in our region,” Erdoğan said at the SAHA 2026 defense and aerospace fair in Istanbul.

The president linked the initiative to broader efforts to reinforce what he called the country’s “internal front,” arguing that military advances alone were insufficient to ensure national security.

“Today, the most strategic step we have taken towards strengthening our internal fortress is the terror-free Türkiye [project], which is now in its 18th month, and the goal of a terror-free region,” he said.

"The terror-free Türkiye is the name of a grand vision that aims to build a future where peace reigns, by strengthening Türkiye and neighboring countries with their internal fronts.”

Erdoğan pledged to continue the process with “prudent, determined and courageous” steps and said the government would not retreat from the initiative.

The campaign accelerated after PKK announced last May that it had ended its armed activities and dissolved its organizational structure. Two months later, a symbolic ceremony was held in Iraq in which weapons were publicly burned.

Parliament later established the National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission to oversee the initiative. The 51-member body, chaired by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, includes representatives from all parliamentary parties except the İYİ (Good) Party.

The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has acted as an intermediary in the process, conducting visits to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on the İmralı prison island off Istanbul.

Erdoğan also used his speech to highlight Türkiye’s defense industry, saying the country had become a globally recognized player in the sector.

“The Turkish defense industry has now become an ecosystem that is sought after, trusted and preferred, not only in its region but also on a global scale,” he said.

“We have given our answer to those who said we couldn't do it, with the products we have made, completed, and successfully tested on battlefields, as we are doing today at SAHA 2026.”

SAHA 2026 has brought together defense and aerospace companies, military delegations, procurement officials and industry representatives from Türkiye and abroad.

Among the systems drawing attention at the exhibition is the Yıldırımhan intercontinental missile. The Defense Ministry said during a May 7 briefing at the fair that the missile can reach speeds of Mach 25 and has a reported range of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles).