Turkey to continue fight against terrorism

Turkey would continue fighting against terrorism as it is a serious threat against the state of law, democratic system and individual freedoms, the country's semiofficial Anatolia news agency quoted a minister as saying on Wednesday. Idris Naim Sahin, Turkey's interior minister, said Wednesday during a meeting of governors in Ankara that "as the government, we will continue our fight against terrorism without making any concessions of our democratic acquisitions, human rights and rule of law." Sahin noted that the government would go on taking measures to build confidence in the state, and refrain from any steps that could polarize citizens. Further, Sahin said Turkey had paid 2.6 billion Turkish liras ( about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) to citizens who were affected by terrorism by the end of December 2011.