Ankara vows to 'completely cleanse' ISIL militants from border region

By Euronews

Published on 22/08/2016 - 16:30

A victim of a wedding party attack has been laid to rest, as Turkey vows to “completely cleanse” ISIL militants from its border region.

The 17-year-old was one of 54 people killed – including 22 children – in a suicide attack on a wedding party in the southeastern city of Gaziantep on Saturday.

Ankara says it was a teenage bomber, with evidence pointing to the so-called Islamic State.

“We’ll fight against Daesh and other terrorist organisations until the end. And we’ll continue to support countries and forces who are (also) fighting (ISIL)… And of course our border needs to be completely cleansed of Daesh,” said Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish Foreign Minister.

The minister added that Turkey has become a “no. 1 target” for the militants because of its efforts to stop recruits travelling through the country and across its border into Syria.

I am back in #Ankara, but my thoughts & prayers are with people in #Gaziantep pic.twitter.com/2WKlFz3Drp
— Mehmet Simsek (@memetsimsek) 22 August 2016

ISIL has been blamed for other similar attacks in Turkey, with Kurdish gatherings often targeted in a bid to inflame ethnic tensions.

More than 100 people died when suicide bombers struck at a rally of pro-Kurdish and labour activists in Ankara last October.