Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Tuesday said it was Turkey's "obligation to humanity" to support in the best possible way the American anti-terrorism drive.
Speaking in Parliament, Ecevit said that along with many of Turkey's Western allies, many countries of the world had so far approached the terrorism issue as "Let the snake that does not bite me live for a thousand years," according to the Turkish Daily News.
He complained that some of Turkey's Western allies “sheltered chieftains of terrorist gangs despite knowing the fact that those chieftains were the planners and perpetrators of many terrorist incidents in Turkey.”
"This is a shame of Europe's humanity," Ecevit said, and expressed appreciation for the understanding Washington had showed Turkey all through past decades of combating what he called "separatist terrorism."
"I hope Europe, after all that has happened in the United States, will make a reassessment of their policies against terrorism," Ecevit said.
The prime minister said that for 20 years, many of Turkey's allies had remained "deaf and blind" to terrorist activities in Turkey.
He said most of those terrorists acts were planned and ordered from outside of Turkey. Now, he said, it was high time for Europe to wake up to the realities and get rid of the "shame of tolerating and harboring terrorists from Turkey" – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
