As the violent conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rages on in eastern Turkey, the capital city of Ankara has been the target of terror attacks twice over the past two months.
The recent escalation in the conflict has cost hundreds of innocent lives.
Turkey's efforts to maintain peace in the country will continue through carefully planned military operations, while still protecting civilians.
The "peace process" to end the decades-old Kurdish issue, which was initiated in late 2012, has been poisoned by the PKK and its campaign of terror. The group has amplified its operations against the Turkish state as a result of the power vacuum in Syria and Iraq.
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Furthermore, Turkey has been left alone in its fight against PKK terrorism, since Western governments appear unwilling to stand behind Turkey in this regard.
PKK recruiting more militants
As part of the peace process, the PKK had promised to withdraw its militants beyond the border in 2013 as the first phase before total disarmament. Instead, it recruited more militants and took up more arms against Turkey by exploiting the destabilisation of Iraq and Syria.
On the other hand, a gesture of goodwill in the name of peace was shown by the Turkish government. The Justice and Development party (AK party) gradually abolished the previous restrictions on the rights of Kurdish people, and lifted the barriers of political expression for pro-Kurdish parties.
Although the predominately Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) passed the 10 percent electoral threshold in the June 2015 general elections, and hopes for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue were high, the PKK declared a "Revolutionary People's War" and started to kill innocent civilians, police and soldiers in the name of "self-governance".
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