Erdogan: Tourists will roam where terror once loomed

DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY - JUNE 03: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at an election campaign rally for the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in Diyarbakir, Turkey on June 03, 2018. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that "tourists will roam where terror once loomed". Erdogan said construction of 350 traditional stone houses had begun and they will be handed over to their rightful owners within a year. Erdogan emphasized on the actions his government had taken to rebuild the province, including the construction of 17 hospitals, 43 health facilities, and 16,847 houses built by state-owned housing agency TOKI. He also said Surici, a historic region of Diyarbakir which was destroyed by PKK terrorists, had been restored. Erdogan said: “Today our whole region, including Diyarbakir, is the most peaceful since the last 40 years. “Our government, particularly our Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, all our security forces, Turkish Armed Forces have done their best. Our village guards have joined hands and done it all. Today the state is with its people as it has never been in the past." In its more than 30-year terrorist campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the death of nearly 40,000 people. More than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including women and children, have been killed since July 2015 alone, when the terror group resumed its armed campaign against Turkey. (Footage by Bayram Akkaya/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)