UPDATE - Türkiye erecting barrier at its borders against terrorist violence: President Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, ERDOGAN'S FURTHER REMARKS IN MARDIN, REVISES DECK

By Gizem Nisa Cebi

ISTANBUL (AA) – By setting up a “security corridor” along its southern borders, Türkiye is successfully walling itself off from spreading terrorism and violence, said the Turkish president on Wednesday.

“We are completely preventing the spread of the fire around us to Türkiye by establishing a security corridor along our southern borders,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an election rally in Sirnak, along Türkiye’s southern border with Iraq, ahead of local elections on March 31.

He also stressed that Türkiye is erecting barriers between itself and terrorist groups seeking to involve it in conflict, while also “distancing itself from both imperialists and their puppets,” apparently referring to the terrorist PKK and YPG/PKK and the countries Türkiye accuses of supporting those terror groups along its borders with Iraq and Syria.

“The separatist terrorist organization is a tool imposed on our country to perpetuate the tyranny aimed at establishing single-party fascism in these lands,” he added.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is its Syrian branch.

- ‘Türkiye has been supporting Palestine since day one’

Later, campaigning in Mardin, another border province, President Erdogan also highlighted Türkiye’s unwavering support for Palestine both since last October and for many decades before that.

Erdogan expressed deep concern over the multitude of conflicts engulfing the region, particularly focusing on the Israeli offensive on Gaza, which has killed over 31,000 people in just five months.

“Unfortunately, pain, drama, and instability prevail in all parts of our heartland,” he said.

“Türkiye is one of the countries that has been supporting Palestine the most since day one and showing the strongest opposition to Israel,” he added.

Erdogan also condemned recent “unfounded accusations” questioning Türkiye’s efforts to support Gaza and Palestine, criticizing those who try to exploit such issues for political gain.

Any attempt to undermine Türkiye’s dedication to the Palestinian cause is “shameful and insulting to the nation,” he said.

Also addressing troubles in neighboring countries, Erdogan pointed to Syria's prolonged “yearning for peace over the past 13 years,” since its civil war began, as well as ongoing “ethnic and sectarian tensions” in Iraq.

He also drew attention to “the bloody war between Russia and Ukraine,” which just started its third year, underscoring the additional burden of “Israel's brutal attacks on Gaza since October.”

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

More than 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 73,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.