“Türkiye is making the best use of new opportunities”

President and Justice and Development (AK) Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at the 8^th Ordinary Provincial Congress of the AK Party in Sakarya.

“WE HAVE TO DISPLAY A WILL TO SEIZE NEW OPPORTUNITIES”

Noting that the first century of the Republic of Türkiye was also a period of very important turning points, President Erdoğan said: “Now we are on the eve of a new era accompanied by breaking points in the world and in our region. Surely, not everything is rosy. There are still problems we need to solve and obstacles we need to overcome, but if we only look at these, and get stuck in them, it will not work. We have to display a will to utilize the new opportunities arising before our country and our nation while also solving the already existing problems. We have this will. Our nation has shown that it has this will by standing by our side in every struggle we have been engaged in for 22 years. Sometimes we see that our citizens are demoralized due to the effects of daily troubles, cyclical fluctuations and incompetents who pump pessimism. I would like to assure every single one of our people; with the second century of the Republic, Türkiye is making the best use of the new possibilities and opportunities arising before it. When we leave behind the temporary pains of this new era, which we call the 'Century of Türkiye’, we will have great capabilities.”

“We have always said our people are the Ansar and they are the Muhajirun. We said we would never throw them out of our country. We said we would always support and protect them. Thanks be to Allah, we have been true to our word,” President Erdoğan said.

“WE SHOULDERED A POLITICAL AND SOCIAL BURDEN THAT NO OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD COULD BEAR”

Stating that the internal conflicts in Syria, which started in 2011 and lasted for more than 13 years, took the climate of brotherhood between our people to another dimension, President Erdoğan said: “Without hesitation, we shouldered a political and social burden that no other country in the world could bear. While fulfilling the requirements of our centuries-old brotherhood, we had to face many pressures, accusations and provocations from inside and outside. Despite these attacks that lack humanitarian and moral foundations, we never backed down. So, who turned out to be right in the end? Praise be to Allah, we were right. Our Lord did not let us down neither for our nation nor for the oppressed Syrian people. After 13 years, Syria has taken its first step towards liberation. As the Baath regime fell after sixty-one years of oppression, Assad had to pack up and flee overnight.”

Noting that the Syrian people have established an interim government and started to restore order and security, President Erdoğan said: “Our guests who have homes, businesses, land and relatives in Syria are gradually heading back. Inshallah, we will clear other parts of Syria from terrorist organizations and invaders, and establish the necessary ground for all of our brothers and sisters to return to their homes. Those who want to stay here and contribute to our country with their experience, work, skills, labor and production are welcomed to do so. What is important is that our brothers and sisters, whether in their own country or here, live in peace and can look to their future with confidence. This is what makes a Turk a Turk, what makes us who we are.”

Pointing to the underground prisons in Damascus, President Erdoğan said: “Have you seen how Assad persecuted these people? Those people who weighed 60 kilos, 70 kilos when they entered those prisons, unfortunately now they weigh 30 kilos when they get out of there.”

President Erdoğan underlined that the answer to why Syrians in Türkiye have been unable to return to their homeland for years is the tools of torture, death and extermination seized from the underground prisons in Damascus.

President Erdoğan also pointed out that those who believed Assad's call for amnesty and returned to the regime-controlled cities were tortured and killed in the death centers called “prisons”.

Stating that they invested a total of TL426 billion in Sakarya, President Erdoğan said, “We have invested TL8 billion in justice, TL27 billion in education, TL6 billion in youth and sports, TL37 billion in social aid, TL12 billion in health, TL76 billion in environment and urbanization, TL157 billion in transportation, TL24 billion in agriculture and forestry, TL5 billion in industry and technology, TL9 billion in support for investments, TL40 billion in energy, TL843 million in culture and tourism, TL25 billion in labor and social security incentives.”