Turkey to continue anti-Daesh fight with coalition

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Turkey will continue its fight against Daesh with coalition forces.

Addressing the media during the fifth day of the eight ambassadors' conference in Turkish capital Ankara on Friday, Cavusoglu said: "Our intense and active struggle against Daesh will continue."

Cavusoglu said Daesh remains a "direct threat" to Turkey, adding: "We do not want to live nearby Daesh. We see the repercussion of it. That is why our fight against Daesh will continue with the coalition."

The minister said Turkish artillery attacked Daesh positions in Syria and Iraq, killing more than 200 terrorists following the Istanbul suicide bombing.

He added that a thorough investigation into the Sultanahmet attack was under way as authorities questioned seven suspects.

A suspected Daesh suicide bomber killed 10 people, mostly German tourists, and wounded 15 others in Istanbul's Sultanahmet district Tuesday.

- Support for PKK

About a declaration signed by a group of Turkish academics which described ongoing security operations against the PKK terrorist group in the country's southeast as a "massacre", Cavusoglu said this indicated "clear support" for the terrorist organization.

"Where in the world does supporting a terrorist organization and being in solidarity with it can be an expression of freedom of expression?" he asked.

About 1,100 academics dubbing themselves the "Group of Academics for Peace" signed Monday a manifesto, which called for an end to the ongoing counter-terrorism operations in southeast Turkey, accusing the state of violating human rights and of conducting a "deliberate and planned massacre".