Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.9 / Trend, A. Taghiyeva /
Turkey's goal in the fight against terrorism is the final laying down of weapons by terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party and the leaving of it's members from the country, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during his visit to Niger, TRT Haber TV channel reported on Wednesday.
He said Turkey will do its best to resolve the terrorism problem in the country, despite the PKK's attempts at undermining these efforts.
At the same time, Erdogan said it is also important for Turkey to address terrorism with minimal casualties on both sides.
The Turkish army resumed military operations against PKK militants after they became active again.
Over the past 10 months, Turkish security forces have neutralized 716 PKK militants, including 496 terrorists who were killed, 21 who were wounded, 44 that were arrested and 155 who surrendered to authorities.
During this period, security forces have held 6 large scale and 19 local operations against militants.
The conflict between Turkey and the PKK has lasted for over 25 years. The PKK is recognised as a terrorist organisation by both the UN and the EU.