ANKARA - General Staff Deputy Chief Gen. Hasan Igsiz said Sunday that it would be an insult to make it look like the martyred soldiers died in vain. He said these martyred soldiers fought back successfully till the end.
Gen. Igsiz briefed the media on Friday's terrorist attack on a military border outpost at the General Staff HQs in Ankara.
Gen. Igsiz said they did not receive any support from the regional administration in north of Iraq and criticised them for allowing PKK terrorists to use their hospitals and roads.
He urged the regional administration in the north of Iraq to acknowledge, PKK as a terrorist organisation and cut the support extended to them.
Gen. Igsiz said Turkish Armed Forces adopted not harming civilians in the region, as a basic principle, noting that PKK was exploiting this by situating terrorists close to civilian settlements.
Gen. Igsiz said there were no problems in the intelligence sharing mechanism with the U.S.
Noting that 2nd Army Gen. Commander Necet Ozel was inspecting the incident, he said despite 5 out of 6 team leaders in the outpost were wounded, there has been no defect in the defense of the outpost.
Commenting on the need for a hot pursuit in north of Iraq, Gen. Igsiz said, "we did not feel a need for this. Our commanders assessed that artillery shelling and airstrikes would be enough."
Gen. Igsiz said General Staff would voice its legal demands in regards to fight against terrorism at an anti-terrorism meeting to be held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"General Staff respects all measures taken with respect to human rights. However, we should not forget about the rights of people who may suffer from acts of terror. There should be a balance between the security needs and human rights," Gen. Igsiz said.
Gen. Igsiz said economic, social and similar measures, to deal with terrorism which were earlier uttered by Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, would also be taken up during Thursday's meeting.
Gen. Igsiz said only two of the soldiers, who were injured in clashes, were in serious condition.

(OZG-AY)
(MIL)