Turkish President,Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will fight to the end against armed, economic, political and social attacks and the forces behind them.
Erdogan spoke after a terror attack killed at least 39 New Year’s Eve revellers in Istanbul overnight.
“As a nation, we will fight to the end against not just the armed attacks of terror groups and the forces behind them, but also against their economic, political and social attacks,” President Erdogan said in a written statement after the attack.
“They are trying to create chaos, demoralise our people, and destabilise our country with abominable attacks which target civilians … We will retain our cool-headedness as a nation, standing more closely together, and we will never give ground to such dirty games,” he said.
US President Barack Obama has directed his team to “offer appropriate assistance” to the Turkish authorities after Sunday morning’s attack, while expressing his condolences for the victims.