This came in a speech, on Thursday, during an event held at the conference center of the ruling Justice and Development Party in the capital, Ankara.
"The world is undergoing a major change," Erdogan explained. "The old order is crumbling, and a completely new equation is being created in our region, in which Türkiye occupies a central position."
He stressed the need for everyone to realize that the expiration date of terrorism in the region has "expired," and that the era of reliance on foreign powers is over .
He said, "We viewed the dissolution of the terrorist PKK itself positively as a step toward eternal salvation from the 40-year-long calamity that has plagued our people, and toward achieving lasting peace in our region."
He stressed, "We will not back down from our policy of combating terrorism, and we are capable of defeating all terrorist organizations."
He added, "We have never tolerated the presence of terrorist organizations near our shared borders with Iraq and Syria, and we will not tolerate it anymore."
Regarding his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdoğan said: "We hosted Ukrainian President Zelensky and his accompanying delegation at our presidential complex, and discussed with them efforts to end the Russian-Ukrainian war with a just peace."
The meeting between President Erdogan and Zelensky concluded earlier today, Thursday, at the presidential complex in the capital, Ankara.
The terrorist organization PKK announced on Monday its complete dissolution and the laying down of its weapons, in line with the call of its founder, Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in Turkey, at the end of last February. This call was in response to a historic initiative launched by the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahceli, to achieve the goal declared by President Erdoğan of a "terrorism-free Türkiye."
