President Erdoğan: Turkey is moving ahead on its path without compromising its own development agenda
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed via videoconference the opening ceremony of Diyarbakır-Ergani-Elazığ Road Devegeçidi Bridge and Link Roads
Drawing attention to the critically important projects Turkey has recently finalized such as the latest satellite launched into space and the domestically-produced helicopter engine, President Erdoğan said: “Constantly upgrading Turkey’s development infrastructure with these projects, we are laying the groundwork for our country to achieve its goals. We are carrying out works on every topic ranging from the fight against the pandemic to the healthcare services and support programmes that set an example for others.”
“At a time when the world is grappling with many issues from the COVID-19 pandemic to political and social chaos, Turkey is thankfully moving ahead on its path without compromising its own development agenda,” the President stressed.
“THOSE WHO OPPOSE OUR EFFORTS TO PUT SOCIAL MEDIA WITHIN A LEGAL FRAMEWORK ARE THEMSELVES EXERCISING THE MOST PRIMITIVE EXAMPLES OF CENSORSHIP”
Noting that many incidents recently taking place in Europe and the US have once again laid bare the double standards displayed against Turkey, President Erdoğan stated that those who accuse Turkey of hampering democracy inside the country put in place very harsh measures in their own countries in the face of the first threat they themselves face. “Those who oppose our efforts to put social media avenues, where personal rights and freedoms are most widely violated, within a legal framework have themselves started to display the most primitive examples of censorship,” the President pointed out.
Stressing that these countries opt to suppress marginal groups’ protests, which disrupt social peace and amount to a blatant attack against the functioning of the state and the law, through interventions of disproportionate harshness, President Erdoğan stated: “Those who do not have the slightest tolerance for terror even being implied, let alone any real act of terror, have for years worked to hamper our fight against terrorist organizations. We saw the examples of this in France just a few months ago. We have also witnessed similar reactions in the incidents that have recently taken place in the US.”
“All of these developments make it imperative for the western world to engage in a sincere soul searching as regards democracy, rights and freedoms,” the President said. “If such a soul searching is not started or if the approach that justifies one’s own faults remains in place, then it means the world has reached a new crossroads.”
“THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE GLOBAL POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ORDER HAS BECOME INEVITABLE WITH THE PANDEMIC”
Expressing his belief that the need for new shared values which are just and sustainable and which embrace all of the humanity without any discrimination of race, color, faith or culture will grow bigger, President Erdoğan said: “We hope that the global political and economic order, the restructuring of which has become inevitable with the pandemic, will be shaped within this context. This approach is the sole way out which can protect humanity against conflicts, which have cost hundreds of millions of lives in the last century alone. Turkey has been working to intellectually promote and effectively implement this approach both in the region and the world. We share these views of ours with our interlocutors in every platform in which we are a member, the UN in particular, as well as during all of our bilateral talks. We believe we are in a position to give this hope to humanity with our civilization, thousands-year-old state tradition, and cultural background incorporating many colors.”
