Three party leaders vow joint fight against terror

ANKARA

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Three parties in Turkey’s parliament have reached a consensus on a joint stance against terror, PM Binali Yıldırım stated after gathering with opposition leaders on Dec. 14 to discuss a recent terrorist attack in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district.“The topic of terrorism is above politics. The party leaders expressed that they would give any necessary contribution to all kinds of work to be done, in their decision and in the legal regulations,” Yıldırım said in a joint press conference after the trio’s meeting.“We have made an extensive evaluation on this framework. We had the opportunity to share the issues with the party leaders about the work to be done. We listened to their views. They had some recommendations. We have taken notes about them. It was a very fruitful meeting,” he added.The prime minister met with the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, and the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahçeli, at the Prime Ministry’s Çankaya Mansion. The meeting came after the Dec. 10 attack in Beşiktaş, which killed 44 people and wounded over hundred.The third biggest party in parliament, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was not given an invitation to the meeting.Speaking at a press conference following the meeting, Kılıçdaroğlu said, “We had an agreement on the fact that all political parties should have a joint stance against terror. Eighty million people in Turkey should take a common stance,” he added.“Beyond being an issue that can be solved solely by political parties, terror is a common problem of NGOs and all parties. We have to fight together. We have to give support to anybody who has facilitated this struggle [against terror],” he said.Bahçeli reiterated the call for a common fight. “The meeting has been conducted with a maturity as our people expected. The political parties demanded the struggle against terror be continued with a sharp and fierce determination.”The three leaders met for the second time since Aug. 22 when Yıldırım welcomed the two leaders just after July 15 coup attempt for an evaluation on the stance of the parliament against the attempt.The AKP, CHP and MHP had previously reacted to the attack with a joint declaration in the parliament on Dec. 11.Following a central executive board meeting on Dec. 12, the CHP also expressed in a statement that the party “is ready to give any kind of support to the terrorist struggle.”