Update - Erdogan Reiterates Turkey's Resolve Against Pkk

Turkey will proceed in its fight against terrorism with determination, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.



He was speaking on Saturday following an attack blamed on the terrorist organization PKK in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakir.



President of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, Tahir Elci, and a police officer died after gunfire erupted in the Sur district.



Speaking in the western Turkish province of Balikesir, Erdogan said: "I learned that Mr. Tahir Elci … and one Turkish police officer were just killed in an attack."



"Additionally, some other police officers and journalists were injured."



"May Allah have mercy on Mr. Elci and our martyred police," Erdogan added.



Erdogan added that Turkey was right to continue fighting against the terrorist organization PKK.



"This incident shows that Turkey is right to fight terrorism. We will proceed to fight against terrorism with determination."



According to Turkish security sources, Elci had been making a statement to the media about the historic Dort Ayakli Minare mosque, damaged by the PKK in October.



PKK terrorists and Turkish security forces traded fire, as people fled the scene.



 



Syrian people suffer under Assad regime, Daesh



 



The Turkish president was speaking at the opening of an education complex.



Addressing a crowd, Erdogan said that Syrian people were suffering under the [Bashar] Assad regime and Daesh, as well as other terror organizations. Erdogan said that it was "natural" for Turkey to be interested in developments in the war-torn country.



"There is no difference between the Assad regime and the PYD [or] YPG terror organizations..." Erdogan said, including the Al Nusra Front rebel group among these.



YPG is the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish rebel group the People's Democratic Union (PYD), which is affiliated to the PKK.



 



'Turkey is an important country for Russia'



 



On the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey on Tuesday, Erdogan repeated his willingness to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris during an upcoming major summit on climate change in the French capital.



"We should not forget that Turkey is an important country for Russia as Russia is an important country for Turkey," Erdogan added.



"We are eager and hopeful on this issue [mending relations]," he added.



Two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on aerial patrol intercepted an unidentified warplane on Tuesday after it intruded into Turkish airspace on the Syria border.



The intruding aircraft was warned about the violation 10 times within five minutes before it was shot down.



Russia's Defense Ministry later announced that one of its SU-24s had been shot down. It crashed in the Syrian region of Bayirbucak, close to the Yayladagi district of southern Turkey. - Ankara