The Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) strongly condemns the continued terrorist attacks by the Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization PKK against Turkish nation.

In latest PKK terror attacks, including two car bombings targeting police stations in Elazig and Van, and another remotely-detonated car bomb aimed at a military vehicle carrying soldiers in Bitlis, at least 14 people were killed and more than 280 wounded.

PKK has been waging war against Turkish nation for the last 30 years, which has claimed more than 40 thousand lives so far. The deadly wave of attacks targets not only Turkey's security forces but also civilians constituting the ultimate crime against humanity.

PKK terrorists stage attacks from Northern Iraq, consistently crossing the border into Turkey, carrying out violent attacks against civilian and military targets, and returning to their bases in Northern Iraq to seek safe haven, with Iraqi Kurdish complicity.

Turkey has a right to defend its people against PKK terrorism, even if that means entering a neighboring state that is unable or unwilling to control terrorist activities in its territory. Turkey must take assertive and complete action now.

There should be no double standards when it comes to terror attacks. Terrorists are criminals no matter what they choose to call themselves and the world community must identify them as such. There are no excuses for the crimes committed by PKK and its cohorts.

Though the PKK has been officially recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States and major world governments, PKK terrorist activity has been largely ignored or covered under euphemisms such as "freedom fighters" and "separatists" by the US and European media outlets. It is time that such horrific acts are recognized for what they are, and genuine cooperation is implemented for the US, Turkey and Iraq to eradicate terrorist enclaves.

Terrorism achieves nothing other than taking innocent lives and strengthening our resolve to fight it. Turkey along with the rest of the civilized world will never yield to terrorists.

As the preeminent organization representing the Turkish American community, ATAA strongly condemns these crimes against humanity and offers its heartfelt condolences to the grieving Turkish people and the families of the tens of thousands of victims who have perished as a result of the terrorist activities of the PKK.