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2001
| Davutoglu warns Israel not to test Turkey's strength |
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Speaking in Istanbul on Sunday during a joint press conference with his Brazilian counterpart Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, “No one can harm Turkey. No one should put Turkey's strength to the test,” the Hurriyet Daily News reported. He added, “No one will be able to blackmail us.” In a reference to Israel's intension to cooperate with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist group in order to weaken Turkey, Davutoglu said that any country that supports terrorism will surely get an appropriate response from Ankara. On Friday, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli foreign minister had planned meetings with PKK leaders in Europe to find ways to cooperate with them “in every possible area.” Israeli officials swiftly denied the existence of such a plan. Davutoglu refused to accept Tel Aviv's denial and stressed that Turkey wants to see Israel "back its denial with actions." In addition, he said the PKK has been going through a period of “tool-ization” --meaning that it has become a tool for those who wish to weaken Turkey. “It's important that our Kurdish people be aware of this. Every time someone tries to harm Turkey, it uses the PKK to do so,” the foreign minister noted. Last year, a Turkish political analyst told Press TV that Israel supports Kurdish militants in their attacks against Turkey in order to put pressure on Ankara. Yavuz Selim stated that the PKK and its offshoot Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) are "definitely supported by the Zionists." The PKK, which has been designated as a terrorist group by much of the international community, has conducted many deadly operations in southern Turkey. Ankara launched major airstrikes on bases of the PKK group in northern Iraq in mid-August after the terrorist group killed 11 Turkish soldiers and a security guard in an ambush in the border Hakkari Province in southeastern Turkey. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the 27-year violence.
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