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Daesh has Turkey on hit list, says foreign minister

August 23, 2016 at 9:48 am

Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said on Monday that Turkey was and still is the main target on the hit list maintained by Daesh, primarily because of Ankara’s efforts to prevent foreign fighters using the country as a route into Syria to join the extremists’ ranks. The minister made his comments at a joint press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart, Linas Linkevicius, in the Turkish capital.

“Turkey was and remains the first goal for Daesh, because it has been working to dry up all the sources that provide the group with foreign fighters,” said Çavuşoğlu. He pointed out that the government has banned 55,000 people from entering Turkey and deported around 4,000. Some known members of Daesh are also being detained.

The foreign minister stressed the importance of Turkey’s role, and that of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in refuting the extremist group’s ideology. He noted that the latest terrorist attack in Turkey came after Erdogan’s comments that Daesh does not represent Islam.

In response to a question on the latest developments in Syria’s Aleppo province, Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey has contributed effectively to fight Daesh and will continue to support all of the parties involved in the fight against the organisation. This, he added , includes the moderate Syrian opposition.