Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that Western countries are waging a "psychological war" against the Republic by closing their diplomatic missions under the pretext of a terrorist threat without providing any evidence.
"America and the West do not want us to be independent and free.
They started this psychological war (related to closing of some diplomatic missions in Turkey due to terrorist threats - TASS) on the day when we announced that we plan to take 60 million tourists and received $46 billion in tourism revenue," said the minister on Thursday in Ankara. NTV channel broadcasted the speech.
Soylu added that "none of the countries that openly stated the possibility of terrorist attacks and named the locations of such incidents contacted any of the Turkish security agencies."
Earlier, the US and French embassies issued warnings about the possible terrorist attacks against foreigners in major Turkish cities, especially in Istanbul, due to the Quran-burning actions in Europe. After that, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Britain closed their consulates general in Istanbul to receive citizens for security reasons.
Earlier, the US and French embassies had issued warnings about possible terrorist attacks against foreigners in major Turkish cities, especially in Istanbul, because of Quran-burning actions in Europe. The Netherlands, Germany, France and Britain then closed their consulates general in Istanbul to receive citizens for security reasons.
"These ambassadors, who couldn't get the people they wanted out of [Turkish] prisons, wanted to conduct a legal operation against Turkey, but now they are trying to implement a terrorist one. An intelligence officer from one country offered jobs to some people in Turkey. We know this employee. And if we tried to do the same, we would be declared a terrorist state," Soylu said without providing further details. He only pointed out that "15 people had been detained and five had been arrested in that connection."
He added that Turkey is facing an "international operation" against it, and "the same countries were behind the coup attempt of July 15 [2016]," which are now waging a "psychological war" against Ankara.
Soylu acknowledged that "the threat of terrorism in Turkey has not disappeared but is no longer at the top of the agenda." "We know who 'feeds' the terrorist organizations. The United States of America 'feeds' the Kurdistan Workers' Party. For years, they have been helping it with money, logistics, people. The United States and the West have not given up on the dream of creating a [Kurdish] terrorist state," the minister said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS