MGK: "Thanks to determination and solidarity of our state and nation, the PKK and its supporters will be ever frustrated"

The National Security Council (MGK), chaired by President Abdullah Gul, convened yesterday in Istanbul, along with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Deputy Prime Ministers Cemil Cicek, Hayati Yazici, and Mehmet Aydin, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, and Interior Minister Besir Atalay. In a statement issued afterwards, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) reiterated that thanks to the determination and solidarity of the state and nation, the terrorist PKK and its supporters will never reach their aims. In the statement, the MGK reaffirmed its determination to maintain measures against the terrorist group. The MGK also reviewed other foreign developments, including the Georgian crisis in the Caucasus, Cyprus, and developments in Iraq. Erdogan also told council members about his recent visits to Moscow and Tbilisi to help defuse the Georgian crisis. Babacan briefed them about this week's extraordinary NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, also concerning the crisis.