President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his letter to citizens living abroad, "Next year's elections are crucial to both the crowning of the 100th anniversary of our Republic and the fulfilment of the 2053 vision. I am confident that you will continue to provide the strongest support for our country's future."
In his letter, President Erdoğan stated that Turkish citizens living abroad represent Türkiye in the best way in the countries where they live and have achieved great success in the social, political, economic and scientific fields.
Noting that they embarked on a blessed journey 21 years ago with the goal of "Great Türkiye" and the vision of "A state in the service of its nation", President Erdoğan pointed out that, like every citizen in Türkiye, they consider those living abroad as the essential component of this blessed march.
Highlighting that they act with the motto of "Wherever we have a citizen, we are there," while achieving great transformations in Türkiye in 21 years, President Erdoğan said in his letter, "Having listened to the voices of our citizens living abroad, we have supported them with every available resource of the state. With your support and the strength we receive from you, we have made Türkiye a country of which all of our citizens are proud, no matter where they live in the world, thanks to the achievements in numerous fields ranging from the defence industry to foreign policy, from health to transportation."
"We have brought you the ballot boxes you have waited fifty years for"
Underlining that they are the first government to prepare an election manifesto for citizens abroad and to dedicate a separate section for them in the government program, President Erdoğan continued as follows:
"We have brought you the ballot boxes you have waited 50 years for so that you can have a say in the future of our country. We have increased the number, capacity and service quality of our consulates. We granted retirees the right to work part-time through foreign borrowing, we abolished the requirement to receive 21 days of basic training for military service paid in foreign currency, we implemented the housing project with TOKI, we extended the duration of mobile device use from 30 to 120 days, we extended the duration of keeping individual vehicles in Türkiye from 6 months to two years, and we made e-Government services available to our citizens living abroad and blue card holders.
We have appointed thousands of teachers and religious officials so that our children can exist in the society they live in without forgetting their language, religion and culture. With our citizen-oriented approach, we have made regulations that are unique in the world in every field, from education to health, social security to population register transactions, customs to military service with foreign currency, and citizenship to blue card use. We not only identified your problems but also established institutions such as the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities, Yunus Emre Institute and Maarif Foundation, and created a special commission in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye."
"We will continue to be at your service with the same will and determination"
Stating that they were always there for and at the service of Turkish citizens abroad during the coronavirus pandemic, President Erdoğan stressed that they kept their promises and achieved their goals one by one.
President Erdoğan noted that they sent party officials and deputies to countries where Turkish citizens resided right after the pandemic to engage with non-governmental organizations and citizens and added:
"We continue our efforts to meet the demands you communicated to them. We will continue to be at your service with the same will and determination in the forthcoming period. Next year's elections are crucial to both the crowning of the 100th anniversary of our Republic and the fulfilment of the 2053 vision. I am confident that you will continue to provide the strongest support for our country's future. Together, we have tackled the problems of our country and yours, and I hope we can build a great and powerful Türkiye. I entrust you to Allah and offer my greetings and respect."
The letter written by President Erdoğan is given by party officials and deputies to expatriates who return to their countries of residence after a vacation or come to Türkiye to spend their vacation.