President Erdoğan: Turkey is in a historic struggle during the current critical period when the political and economic power balances are being reshaped globally

 

President and Justice and Development (AK) Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the party’s parliamentary group meeting.

“I would like to begin my words by wishing Hatay and İskenderun a speedy recovery. The previous day, our security forces identified in a short time, thanks to their caution and acumen, two terrorists, who entered our country through the Amanos Mountains in order to carry out an attack, and thwarted a huge catastrophe. It has been determined that the terrorists, both of whom were neutralized by our security forces, were the last members of a previously identified group. I congratulate our security forces and kiss them on the forehead. This incident has shown once again how right Turkey is in its concerns with regard to Syria-centered terrorist attacks. No one can deny that our firm stance on Idlib as well as our operations Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, Peace Spring and Spring Shield, are not an excuse or a misgiving but are based on concrete security concerns,” the President said.

President Erdoğan stated: “Also we see that the terrorist organization’s presence and the threats against our country continue to increase in areas not under our control across our Syrian border despite all the promises given to us. Unless the promises given to us are delivered on and all the terrorists there are driven out of the line we have determined, I would like to reiterate that we have legitimate cause to take action whenever we deem necessary. We know, due to the many terrorists we captured in recent days, that DAESH members, who come to our country from Syria, continue to pursue attacks. Therefore, the excuses of those, who tie their presence in Syria to the fight against terror, are groundless. Only Turkey truly fights against DAESH.”

“TURKEY HAS SUFFICIENT POWER TO CLEAR, IF NEED BE, ALL TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS FROM SYRIA”

“Russia’s attack on the training center of the Syrian National Army in the Idlib area indicates that lasting peace is not wanted in the region. It is also clear that the structure, the US is trying to form along Syria’s Iraqi border, signals of new conflicts, sorrows and tragedies. The Syrian people are paying with their blood the price for the strategic games of the regime, the powers that came from out of the region and the terrorist organizations under their control. We cannot just watch this hypocrisy, these unfair and unjust acts. Because we feel the pain of every incident that takes place right next to our borders. The incident in Hatay is the last and most concrete example of that. The powers, which settled in Syrian lands, but do not fight against DAESH as much as we do, must drop this theatre. Turkey has sufficient power to clear, if need be, all terrorist organizations from Syria. However, we know that the plans over Syria have nothing to do with ending the atrocities the Syrian people suffer from. We only aim to ensure our own security, and help bring peace and well-being to the Syrian people. Other than that, we do not have our eyes on no one’s lands, oil or rights,” President Erdoğan pointed out, and added: “It is high time this ancient geography, which has become the playground of imperialists for the past century, got out of this difficult position it is put in. Inshallah, Turkey will be the greatest supporter of this honorable rise.

“WE ARE A NATION THAT RESPECTS THE SANCTITIES OF OTHER REGIONS BESIDES THOSE OF OUR OWN RELIGION”

Islamophobia and disrespect for Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has been spreading like a cancer cell particularly among European leaders, President Erdoğan underscored. Regarding the so-called caricatures printed on a French magazine targeting himself, President Erdoğan said that he himself has not looked at the caricatures since he considers heeding such immoral publications self-degradation. The President further stressed that his sorrow and anger are actually caused not by the attacks on himself but by the same magazine’s disrespect for Prophet Muhammad. “We are aware that the target is not my own self, but the values we advocate,” President Erdoğan said, and added: “These are the signs of Europe’s regression into the era of barbarism. France, and Europe in general, don’t deserve Macron’s and the like-minded ones’ fruitless, provocative and malicious policies that incite hatred.” 

Calling on the Europeans with commonsense to take initiative against this perilous trajectory for a bright future for themselves and their children, President Erdoğan said: “We want those, who try to use enmity towards Turks and Muslims as a cover to conceal their shortcomings in domestic politics, to take their dirty hands off our sacred values.”

Underscoring that the Turkish nation would never act disgracefully in the face of attacks on its faith and values, President Erdoğan stated: “We are a nation that respects the sanctities of other religions besides those of our own religion. Mosques, churches and synagogues have served their followers on our lands side by side throughout centuries. They have been under the protection of our ancestors and our state. There are still countless examples of them from in Istanbul to in Hatay.”

“WE HAVE NOT INTERFERED IN ANYONE’S FAITH OR SACRED VALUES”

Calling on Western countries, President Erdoğan said: “Wasn’t that you who massacred hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda? Wasn’t that you who massacred millions of Algerians? Wasn’t that you who went to every country in Africa just because there were diamond, phosphate and gold and massacred the people there? You are murderers, murderers.” 

Stating that seeds of fitnah and hatred coming from Europe started to fall on these lands starting with the Crusades, President Erdoğan said: “There is no reason for us to become foes with people with whom we have been living together for a thousand years. We have just defended ourselves from internal and external attacks we have come under. Such incidents as deportation and population exchanges are the bitter outcomes of the games Western powers have staged on our lands. Despite all this, members of other religions, who live in our country either as a citizen or our guest, live their lives in a unique climate of tolerance and respect.” 

Underscoring that the 435 churches and synagogues open for worship across Turkey are under the protection of the state, President Erdoğan noted that no one’s faith, prayers or sacred values are interfered in in Turkey.

Noting that a large number of steps have been taken in order to expand the religious freedoms of the citizens members of different faiths, President Erdoğan, stressing that he as the President of Turkey sees the problems of Christian and Jewish citizens as his own problems, said: “The understanding of tolerance in our country is a sincere feeling coming from the roots of our faith and the bottom of our hearts, it is not the kind of hypocrisy that fascist faces mask themselves with as in Europe.” President Erdoğan further stated that Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany cannot explain why some 100-150 German police officers entered Mevlana Mosque during morning prayers in Germany.

“WE DO NOT HARBOR ANIMOSITY TOWARDS ANYONE BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH”

Saying that it is a serious problem that the German state does not value the identity of the Turks living there, President Erdoğan went on to say: “We do not harbor animosity towards anyone because of their faith, root, color, sect or disposition, provided that our independence, future and values are respected.”

Also touching upon the operation which Azerbaijan, following Armenia’s attacks, has launched to save its lands that have been under occupation for nearly 30 years, President Erdoğan said that the Minsk Group has failed to settle the issue for 30 years. 

Referring to the phone call he held the previous night with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Erdoğan noted that he suggested to Mr. Putin that if Mr. Putin speaks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia and himself with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, they might be able to find a solution to the issue.

President Erdoğan said he also told Mr. Putin that whatever is necessary will be done unless the issue of the presence of PKK/PYD terrorists among Armenian soldiers attacking Azerbaijan is dealt with.

“A TERRORIST MUST BE DESCRIBED BY HIS/HER OWN GOALS AND ACTIONS BEYOND ALL HIS/HER OTHER ATTRIBUTES”

“The primary excuse, or more precisely the biggest trick employed by those attacking Islam and Muslims is to equate and identify these concepts with terror,” the President said. “They are working to legitimize insults against our Prophet under the cover of freedom of thought. However, a Muslim cannot be a terrorist and a terrorist cannot be a Muslim. A terrorist is a bloodthirsty villain with a dark heart who doesn’t shy away from slaughtering innocent people and is capable of using every method to achieve his/her own goals. A terrorist must be described by his/her own goals and actions beyond all his/her other attributes, whether he/she be a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist or a follower of no religion.”

Underlining that it is the gravest slander against Islam to claim that Muslims have no tolerance towards others and target followers of other religions by means of terror, President Erdoğan said that while it is Muslims that are oppressed, killed and bear the burden, the West and Europe insult Islam and Muslims over terrorism. “They attack us as we bring up this crooked situation and say it to their faces. No matter what they do, we will never stop advocating justice and truth at every opportunity.”

“AS WE STRENGTHEN OUR ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE, WE GROW NEARER TO OUR GOALS”

“Turkey is in a historic struggle during the current critical period when the political and economic power balances are being reshaped globally. Drawing strength from our state’s greatness and our nation’s solidarity, we are determined to become successful in this struggle. We want what is right, moral, good, nice and auspicious for ourselves, for our friends and for the entire humanity,” President Erdoğan said.

“The true colors of those, who ruled over the world for the past two centuries through such notions as democracy, freedom, pluralism and the rule of law, have begun to be revealed with the successive crises in the recent period,” President Erdoğan noted. “The fascist, racist, hubristic mentality behind this polished mask, which sees everyone who is not on its side as enemy, is spreading to the European democracy like cancer. The principles, which are called the European values or the French values, and are dictated to the entire world, are being violated by the very people preaching them,” President Erdoğan said.

Pointing to the rising Islamophobia and Turcophobia in Europe, President Erdoğan said: “Those, who see that their fake order of freedom and prosperity, the price of which is paid by the rest of the world and humanity as pain and misery, is under threat, continue to grow more vicious every passing day. Turkey continues to fulfill its responsibilities, placed on its shoulders by its historical and civilizational heritage, despite the attacks by this ugly and insolent mentality. Therefore, we continue to struggle across a wide geography stretching from the Caucasus to North Africa. We aim to enter 2023, the 100th anniversary of our Republic, in a more peaceful, safe and prosperous world for ourselves and for all our friends. As we strengthen our economic and political independence, we grow nearer to our goals, and constantly boost our prestige in the eyes of the oppressed and the disadvantaged. Those, who look for a way out by encircling our country instead of righting the wrong path they took, are doomed to fail. The over-ambitious and oppressive administrations will end up becoming the focal point of hatred because of which they will not be able to set foot on the street even in their own countries. We will continue to move forward on our path.”

Wishing the Azerbaijani Turks success in their fight against Armenia, President Erdoğan said: “I believe the victory belongs to my Azerbaijani Turkish brothers and sisters. May our Lord help and guide them! We have always stood with them in their struggle there and will continue to do so.”