President Erdoğan: The most painful, tragic, bloody and brutal implications of these troubles become manifest in our region
President and Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at a campaign rally in the Black Sea province of Ordu in the run-up to the local elections scheduled for March 31, 2019.
Recalling that he is visiting Ordu for the third time in a year, President Erdoğan thanked the locals for welcoming and embracing him with open arms.
Pointing to the services, investments and projects introduced in Ordu in a wide range of areas including education, transportation, housing, tourism, agriculture and industry, President Erdoğan said: “We have a lot more jobs and services to implement in Ordu. We will carry out all these works in collaboration with our mayors following the 31st of March.”
“WE ARE DETERMINED TO CLEAR TERRORISTS FROM EAST OF THE EUPHRATES”
Further stressing that all the countries, from the most developed to the least developed, are facing various troubles and are in a constant search, President Erdoğan underlined that the balances across the world are getting disrupted and new ones are being established daily. “Yet, Turkey has managed to stand strong throughout such a turbulent period despite all the attacks and threats it has sustained,” the President said.
Stating that the future of Turkey, just like that of the region, depends to a large extent on how the Syria issue will be resolved, President Erdoğan noted: “Should we fail to resolve the Syria issue in a way that could ensure our border security as well as the peace, security and wellbeing of the Syrian people, neither we nor our region, Europe included, can feel at ease.”
Given the current point that has been reached, it is now evident that a solution to the Syria issue is possible only if Turkey itself directly provides security in the part of Syrian territory adjacent to Turkish borders, President Erdoğan underlined, further stressing that that is why Turkey conducted the operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch and took the initiative in Idlib.
“That is why we are persistent for Manbij to be cleared of terrorists and be restructured under the observation of our country. That is why we are determined to cleare terrorists from east of the Euphrates,” President Erdoğan continued, adding that it is otherwise not possible to find a lasting solution to the Syria issue and enable the 3.6 million Syrians currently living in Turkey to return home.
Emphasizing the fact that 315 thousand Syrians ─ a number increasing daily ─ have thus far returned to the areas inside Syria that Turkey has made secure via operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch, President Erdoğan noted that it is a must to repeat the same in other areas, as well. “We are working to successfully manage the political process which also features a new constitution and free elections,” the President said.
