ANKARA - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said Turkey will strongly fight against terrorism.
Speaking during a joint press conference with visiting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the Presidential Palace in the Turkish capital Ankara, Erdogan again strongly condemned Sunday's Ankara bomb attack, calling it an attack on every Turkish citizen.
"Those who want to settle accounts by spilling blood of innocent people will never bring Turkey to its knees," said the Turkish president.
Erdogan described the Ankara blast as a "cowardly terrorist attack against all of Turkey and all the 79 million Turkish people. "
Erdogan said that while the attack targeted the country's integrity as well as unity and solidarity of people, it "does not diminish our will to fight against terror."
Erdogan and Aliyev both emphasized the need to stand against terrorism after the fifth meeting of Turkey-Azerbaijan High Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Ankara.
The Azerbaijani president reiterated his condemnation of the Ankara attack, saying Azerbaijan will always stand by Turkey in its fight against terror.
The car bomb attack in Ankara's central Kizilay neighborhood Sunday evening hit a major public transportation hub, killing 37 people and injuring more than 100 others.(Xinhua)