Erdogan: We are not those who scurry behind a barrel of oil

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Turkey is taking the necessary measures to avoid future tragedies like the recent incident involving Turkish pilots being kidnapped in Lebanon and then later freed as part of a complex swap.

“Being a great nation means having great and ambitious goals, and no doubt as many inconveniences as there are blessings,” Erdogan said in a speech he delivered to his party’s parliamentary bloc. He told party members that, “Those who are afraid of these costs will never see the grace, and until this day we have not allowed that such plots be hatched against Turkey, and we will not allow this in the future.”

On the fatwa that was issued in Syria permitting those who are suffering from hunger and a lack of available food to eat the flesh of dogs and cats, Erdogan said, “No one can take the joint pain that we share away from our hearts. We are not those who scurry behind a barrel of oil, a handful of diamonds or hub of gold, and we are also not those who sell their brothers and stab them from behind… for power or authority, and everyone should be aware of that.”

In regards to internal Turkish affairs, Erdogan commented that, “the bandits will not break our resolve to move forward, even if those bandits are using modern masks.”

Erdogan stressed that he stands by the Turkish intelligence chief: “There are those who wish to put our institutions under suspicion. When the time comes you now see that they are attempting to engage our National Intelligence Organization undersecretary…However we will stand behind our valued bureaucrats and technocrats.”