President Erdoğan: Turkey won’t turn its back on East or West

 

President and Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses at the 7th Ordinary Grand Congress in Ankara.

Referring to Turkey’s goals for 2023, the centennial of the Republic, President Erdoğan said: “Making our 2023 goals, the name of the route we have been following for long, a new beginning for ourselves, we are building a great and powerful Turkey that will embrace the 21st century and beyond.”

Stressing that the Turkish economy is built on a robust foundation, President Erdoğan drew attention to the newly-announced economic reform package, and said: “Now it is time to work harder, produce more, speed up, and walk towards our goals. I thank all the members of our nation who embraced our message of confidence and stability and thus stood by their country in the face of movements devoid of any financial basis.”  

Pointing out that the number of businesses launched last year neared 103 thousand across Turkey while less than 16 thousand businesses closed down in the same period of time, President Erdoğan stated: “Turkey rose from 84th place out of 175 countries in 2002 to the 33rd place out of 190 countries in 2020. Out of the 75,699 companies with international capital set up between 2010-2020 in Turkey, over 11 thousand companies with a total capital of 39 billion liras were launched last year despite the pandemic. Now I am asking from here, which international investor sets up business in a country in which s/he doesn’t have any confidence and forges partnerships with the citizens of that country? Likewise, 200 thousand international students from almost every country of the world receive education in Turkey. I am asking, which parents send their children to a country, whose future, peace and security they are not sure of, for education for a duration of four or five years?”

Describing Turkey as a country that derives its strength from its robust economic infrastructure, production capacity, highly educated labor force, entrepreneurs and exporters, in short from its real economy, President Erdoğan further stressed: “We will reach a much higher level in the world by making the Turkish economy grow on the basis of investment, production, employment and exports.”

“WE ARE DETERMINED TO TURN OUR REGION INTO AN ISLAND OF PEACE”

Touching upon Turkey’s foreign policy, President Erdoğan noted that Turkey is one of the five countries in the world with the highest number of diplomatic missions, and said: “We continue to increase our presence across the world with the aim of leaving no place where our flag is not waved. We believe that we do not have any problems which cannot be resolved with any country that respects our country’s national interests. We are determined to turn our region into an island of peace in the period ahead by increasing the number of our friends and putting an end to animosities.”

“We will continue to shape our relations with all the countries, from the U.S. to Russia and from the European Union to the countries in the Arab geography, in line with Turkey’s interests and our nation’s expectations. As a country that is located in the heart of Africa, Asia and Europe, we cannot afford to turn our back on either the East or the West. We are well aware of the fact that it is not easy to develop balanced, coherent and long-term cooperation with countries which are in competition or even in conflict with one another at the same time. However, Turkey, with its geographical position, economic interests and inclusive foreign policy vision, has the power and sagacity to achieve this,” the President stressed.

“WE HOPE WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE PANDEMIC WILL BE A TURNING POINT FOR ADDRESSING GLOBAL WEAKNESSES”

“As the world struggles with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Turkey maintains its endeavors with a perspective to be prepared for the post-pandemic period,” President Erdoğan said. “We want a healthy, just and prosperous world for all our friends and the humanity along with ourselves. We know that the elites of the global system, who built an artificial order of security and wealth for themselves in their glass places, are far away from this understanding. Therefore, we reiterate at every chance we get our assessment and demand that ‘the World is bigger than 5,’ which we have been voicing for a long time,” President Erdoğan underscored.

Reiterating Turkey’s proposal for a reform, which would address the imbalances and injustices within global administrative mechanisms, especially in the UN Security Council, to be swiftly drafted and put into practice, President Erdoğan said: “The developments during the pandemic have reaffirmed how right our assessment and proposal is.”

President Erdoğan continued his speech as follows: “We hope what happened during the pandemic will be a turning point for addressing global weaknesses. The pandemic has revealed very clearly that the powerful states are not the ones that have a lot of money, but the ones that offer the best service to their citizens in times of need. Turkey, with the leadership it displayed in all areas from healthcare to food thanks to the robust infrastructure and capacity we established during our governments, has shown that it is truly a powerful state. In light of the experiences gained during the pandemic, we believe the global system needs a new social contract which will earn the trust of the entire humanity. We have to do that in order to make the post-pandemic world a more livable place for all. New and destructive competitions, indications of which have begun to be seen in political, economic and military areas, will only serve to turn the damage caused by the pandemic into worse catastrophes.”