'Turkish policy is to find and destroy terrorists'

By Yesim Sert Karaaslan and Merve Yildizalp

ANKARA (AA) - On terrorism, Turkey’s policy is to “detect and destroy,” said Turkey’s deputy prime minister on Monday, also stressing its determination to try the leader of FETO, the group behind the defeated July 2016 coup.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Bekir Bozdag denounced the U.S. failure to extradite Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) leader Fetullah Gulen, the U.S.-based orchestrator of the defeated coup.

The foiled coup martyred 250 people and injured some 2,200.

Bozdag also stressed Ankara’s determination to wipe out terrorists from Turkey and its nearby borders. “Wherever terrorists and terror groups are, that will be a target to Turkey,” he said, underlining that the aim is to eradicate terrorists before they infiltrate Turkey.

"Anything is possible around the region now, including a Qandil operation,” he underscored referring to the headquarters in northern Iraq of the terrorist PKK, which has taken some 40,000 lives in Turkey.

He also slammed Austria’s recent decision to close seven mosques and expel scores of imams, saying the move clearly kills religious and moral freedom.

Fighting religious and racial discrimination is a “must,” he said.