Erdogan says Turkey to fight IS, Syrian Kurdish militants

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the United Solidarity and Brotherhood rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, August 28, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

ANKARA - Turkish President Recep Erdogan vowed on Sunday to fight all terrorist groups including the Islamic State (IS), the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) with its Syrian offshoots and the Gulen organization that carried out a recent failed coup.

The Turkish army's operation in Syria is aimed at giving people who fled the IS-controlled areas a chance to return home, Erdogan told a rally of his supporters in the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep.

He said the government "had enough" of recent mortar attacks targeting the Karkamis district of the border province of Kilis, which ultimately provoked the launch of the Euphrates Shield operation.

Last week, the Turkish army launched a cross-border operation with the help of the U.S.-led coalition forces to drive out the IS militants from its border following the Gaziantep suicide attack that killed 55 people and series of mortar attacks targeting the Karkamis district.

"People's demand for the reintroduction of death penalty should be debated in parliament, I'll sign it if it comes to me," the president added.

Meanwhile, Turkish forces killed 10 PKK militants in the southeastern Turkish province of Hakkari, Dogan news agency reported.