Evaluating the services provided in Türkiye in 2022 through his social media posts, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, "Today, we are not only beginning a new year but also a new era as we enter the new century of our Republic.”
President Erdoğan stated that the My First Home, My First Work Place Project was the largest social housing project in the Republic's history and that the foundations for 5,615 houses were laid in the first phase.
President Erdoğan announced that 45 thousand post-disaster housing units and 20 thousand social housing units were completed and shared the following flood:
"We completed and put into service 49 nation’s gardens. As a result, we increased the total number of the nation’s gardens to 152. Construction on 310 projects is still underway. In Istanbul, 100 kindergartens were completed and made available to the families of our children. We brought 5 million square metres of parks, 1615 kilometres of bicycle lanes, and 1200 kilometres of green walking trails into service. We removed around 180 thousand tonnes of rubbish from our seas. Our zero waste recovery rates grew to 27.2 per cent. As a result, we avoided 23 thousand of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. We cut our use of plastic bags by 65 per cent. As a result, we avoided the production of 550 thousand tonnes of garbage. With new registries, we brought our total number of monumental trees to 10,285. We increased the level of our protected areas to 12.58 per cent. Within the framework of the 'Stop Desertification and Erosion' campaign, we planted 100,000 seedlings. We landscaped a total of 24,000 square metres in our naturally protected areas. We held Türkiye's first Climate Council.
President Erdoğan stated that the country increased its emission reduction goal against climate change to 41 per cent by 2030, built 3,930 projects in 12 provinces, and shifted its industrial sectors away from urban areas.
President Erdoğan mentioned that they established the Pre-financing Model for Export Supports and went on to say:
"We executed the Distant Countries Strategy to expand our commerce with 18 countries outside of our traditional markets, where we have a significant foreign trade deficit. We supported our service exporting companies with 818 million Turkish Liras. We included the 1547 international fair within our scope of support. We introduced a robust support package to make e-export simple, fast, and dependable. Through inspections by customs enforcement personnel, we seized 14.2 tonnes of narcotic substances. We implemented significant legal modifications to adapt e-commerce to shifting circumstances. We produced the first domestic and national vehicle and container scanning system. Our tradespeople and craftspeople received a loan of 72.3 billion Turkish Liras. In our country, we reached a trading volume of $30 billion in 19 free zones. In the first eleven months of 2022, we exported exactly $231 billion. In 2022, we boosted the minimum wage by 95%, civil servant salaries by 87%, and civil servant pensions by 86%. We introduced the Turquoise Card application, which we developed to attract a qualified foreign workforce to our country.
Diplomacy and international contacts
President Erdoğan emphasised that they made a significant contribution to resolving the global food crisis by implementing and extending the Istanbul Grain Agreement. President Erdoğan stated, "We helped establish global peace, tranquillity, and security. We acted as a mediator in resolving conflicts, including the Ukraine crisis."
President Erdoğan stated that they bolstered the representation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is now an observer member of the Organisation of Turkic States, and that they informed the entire world about the violations in the demilitarised Eastern Aegean Islands.
President Erdoğan continued, explaining that they exceeded $40 billion in bilateral trade with Africa and successfully held the term presidencies of the Organisation of Turkic States and MIKTA.
"We hosted the second Antalya Diplomacy Forum, a prestigious international event that demonstrated its significance. We ensured that NATO's New Strategic Concept takes into account Türkiye's concerns and expectations. Together with our own citizens, we evacuated more than 18,000 individuals in need at the beginning of the Ukraine crisis. By raising the number of our foreign representative offices to 257, we became one of the world's top five countries in this field. We hosted numerous heads of state and government, as well as international representatives, at the Türkevi in New York, which became a new diplomatic hub. After the devastating floods, we sent 15 flights and 13 trains to bring aid supplies to Pakistan, a friendly and brotherly country. As a country with whom we have long-standing historical and cultural links, we did not act indifferently about the problems in Afghanistan. By deploying six Charity Trains, we contributed to alleviating the region's dreadful conditions. We stood in solidarity with Africa against the global injustice it faced in gaining access to the Covid-19 vaccine. We delivered a total of 4.5 million doses of vaccine to our brothers and sisters on the continent. We maintained 89 cemeteries for Turkish martyrs in 33 countries and repaired 22 of them. We signed a Hydrocarbon Cooperation Agreement with the legitimate government of Libya."
Investments and projects in the field of energy and natural resources
Recalling that they established Europe's first and only carbon-negative bio-refinery facility, President Erdoğan stated the following in his flood:
"Our installed electrical power exceeded 100,000 megawatts. For the first time in Türkiye, a vocational high school dedicated to mining was established. We dispatched Abdülhamid Han, our nation's fourth drillship, to its first station in the Mediterranean Sea. We reduced the VAT rate on electricity used in residences and agricultural irrigation to 8 per cent. We discovered 8 million barrels of oil in Adana. We discovered the world's second-largest reserve of rare earth elements. In addition, we laid the groundwork for the fourth unit of our Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. We set a record for renewable energy production. We laid the foundation of Türkiye's first ferroboron plant. We launched the pipeline that will transport the natural gas discovered in the Black Sea to our citizens. Hopefully, we will be able to use Black Sea gas in our homes in the near future. We discovered 150 million barrels of oil on Mount Gabar in Şırnak, where we eradicated terrorism. We discovered new natural gas reserves in the Black Sea, totalling 58 billion cubic metres. With the revaluation efforts, our total reserve increased to 710 billion cubic metres. We inaugurated our Silivri Natural Gas Storage Facility, the largest in Europe in its field."
Health investments and economic support packages
President Erdoğan stated that they opened 27 hospitals with a total of 7,345 beds in 27 provinces, as well as 96 family healthcare centres and 731 family medicine units.
In his posts regarding health investments, stating that they carried out more than five million cancer screenings, President Erdoğan said, "We put 148 primary care units into service. We completed numerous health investments, ranging from smoking cessation outpatient clinics to organ transplant centres. We provided home health care to 2 million 156 thousand of our citizens. Within the scope of bilateral agreements, we treated 348 foreign patients in our country. We kept every promise we made to our healthcare professionals on March 14, Medicine Day. We quickly implemented the new legal regulation we prepared to combat violence against healthcare professionals."
Support provided to farmers
We took many steps to increase agricultural production and protect our farmers. We provided credit assistance to increase the use of solar energy in agricultural irrigation. With the substantial subsidies we implement in energy bills, we once again demonstrated one of the most visible examples of our understanding of the social state.
Stating that they gave 1.8 billion TL to farmers within the scope of IPARD projects, President Erdoğan said, "We exported 26.8 billion dollars in agricultural products in 2022, when we supported our farmers with 40 billion TL and broke the all-time plant production record."
Counter-Terrorism and Border Security
Stating that 124 members of the terrorist organisation were persuaded and seized by the security forces and 39 heroic mothers who participated in the children watch in Diyarbakır were rejoined with their children, President Erdoğan noted that they captured 278 thousand 313 irregular immigrants and 8 thousand 788 organisers.
President Erdoğan stated that they ensured the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of 538 thousand of Syrians to newly secured regions in Syria.
Thanks to the police and gendarmerie, 132,396 operations were conducted against the terrorist organisation PKK, as President Erdoğan explained: "We conducted 241,000 operations in the fight against drugs and arrested 26,000 people. 4.7 million of our citizens downloaded the KADES Women's Support Application to their mobile devices. With our operations, we made Türkiye intolerable for organised crime organisations. We deported 119,000 illegal immigrants thanks to our police and gendarmerie forces."
Justice services
Indicating that they saved 5.8 billion TL in total with e-notification (e-tebligat) and SEGBİS (audio-visual information system) applications, President Erdoğan said, "We resolved many disputes without moving them to the courts with mediation practices. We added a new one to the reforms we are pursuing to strengthen the judiciary's effectiveness; we implemented the 6th Judicial Package."
Sports investments with projects for young people
In flood, President Erdoğan listed the services for young people:
"We inaugurated 36 youth centres, and we also established 67 Youth Offices (Genç Ofis). We increased the number of youth camps in our country to 54. A total of 16 thousand young people benefited from 104 Experimental Workshops (Deneyap Atölyesi) that we established within the scope of technology-oriented efforts. Seven hundred fifty thousand young people benefited from our 'What Do Young People Like?' (Genç Ne Sever?) platform. With this wonderful application, our young people came together in cinemas, theatres, concerts, and sporting events. We made the dormitories of the Ministry of Youth and Sports available for free to our travelling youth in the provinces they visit. Three hundred twenty-five thousand young people benefited from our Traveling Youth Project (Seyahatsever Genç Projesi). We established a new record by placing 98 out of every 100 students who applied for our Ministry of Youth and Sports dormitories. We increased our number of higher education dormitories to 800 and our capacity to 850 thousand as a result of our new investments."
President Erdoğan stated that they successfully hosted 180 international sports organisations with a robust infrastructure and that they constructed 9,977 basketball hoops across the country as part of the Ten Thousand Hoop Basketball Mobilisation project.
President Erdoğan noted that Turkish athletes made history in international tournaments and filled the nation with pride by earning 6,127 medals, adding that they guided 1 million 459 thousand students in making a move to professional sports life within the framework of Sports Talent Searching.
Industrial and technological investments
President Erdoğan highlighted the establishment of five new technology development zones and continued:
"We released a circular on our National Technology Entrepreneurship Strategy. We initiated the Turcorn 100 Programme to introduce new "Turcorns" to our nation. Through the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Development Organisation (KOSGEB), we provided 9.1 billion Turkish Liras in support to 102 thousand enterprises. We held TEKNOFEST, the locomotive of our National Technology initiative, in the Black Sea and Azerbaijan, which received more than 600 thousand applications from 81 provinces and 107 countries. We supported 100 high-added-value projects with an investment of 18.1 billion Turkish Liras."
President Erdoğan remarked that the country attracted 10.3 billion dollars in foreign direct investment and that they allocated 2.5 billion liras to over 8 thousand R&D projects.
Stating that they enabled the establishment of 280 technology-based enterprises with the TÜBİTAK's Individual Young Enterprise (BİGG) programme, President Erdoğan added, "We supported the organisation of science fairs in each of our 81 provinces, allowing 500 thousand students to display their projects. We conducted the sixth National Antarctic Science Expedition and the second National Arctic Science Expedition. Through Development Agencies and Regional Development Administrations, we contributed 2.6 billion Turkish Liras for 1,659 projects."
Defence industry investments
President Erdoğan listed the following developments in the defence industry during the course of the year: "We began utilising the underwater combat management system MÜREN and the domestic and national electronic warfare pod EHPOD. The tests of Gökdoğan and Bozdoğan, Türkiye's first national air-to-air missiles, were completed. We created the mission computer for the National Combat Aircraft at TÜBİTAK's Informatics and Information Security Research Centre (BİLGEM). We produced the first locomotive engine with a domestic design and accomplished its initial ignition."
President Erdoğan highlighted that they supported the papers of 15 thousand 844 researchers with the Incentive Programme for International Scientific Publications.
Remarking that Türkiye joined three other nations in constructing the National Naval Gun system, President Erdoğan said that, with the Kayseri facility, maintenance and repair of the military transport aircraft A400M began for the first time outside of Airbus' headquarters.
President Erdoğan declared they achieved the highest single-item defence industry exports in the Republic's history.
Counter-terrorism and security operations
President Erdoğan noted that via the operations launched by the Turkish Armed Forces, 4,013 terrorists were neutralised, adding that 100 large- and 453 medium-scale operations were conducted in the fight against terrorism and a considerable number of explosives, caves, and hiding places were destroyed.
Noting that 279 patrols were conducted in the Operation Peace Spring region, President Erdoğan indicated that the Turkish Armed Forces prevented 258 thousand 115 illegal migrants and captured 7 thousand 899 more.
President Erdoğan stated that nine modular base areas and 341 electro-optical towers had been installed along the border and continued, "We assessed our military capabilities by engaging in twelve joint exercises with brotherly Azerbaijan. With a total of 91 military exercises, we inspired confidence in our friends and fear in our adversaries."
President Erdoğan announced that the Land Forces Command accomplished 468 operations, the Turkish Naval Forces completed 120 thousand hours of sailing, and the Turkish Air Force completed 61 thousand missions.
Combating disinformation and Islamophobia
President Erdoğan stressed that the Centre for Combating Disinformation was established in response to systematic campaigns against Türkiye and continued:
"We assumed the term presidency of the Conference of the Ministers of Information of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which, in my opinion, plays a crucial role in the fight against disinformation and Islamophobia. We established the Türkiye Brand Office, where we strive to strengthen the 'Türkiye' brand. We never slowed down in our efforts to enhance the communication of the Turkic world on a firm base. We hosted the International Strategic Communication Summit with the participation of over 3,000 local and international communication professionals worldwide."
In his post regarding the grain corridor, President Erdoğan stated, "By opening the grain corridor, we have allowed over 16 million tonnes of grain and foodstuffs to leave Ukrainian ports and reach the rest of the globe."
President Erdoğan remarked that the State Incentives Promotion Days, which began with the slogan "Your Future Is Here, The State Is With You," hosted 751 thousand young people, highlighting that they responded to 98% of the 6 million 180 thousand applications sent to the Presidency's Communication Centre (CİMER), which they constructed as a communication bridge between the nation and the state.
Noting that around 12 thousand press cards were delivered to members of the press, President Erdoğan said that they improved their communication-related cooperation and solidarity with numerous friendly and brotherly countries.
President Erdoğan added that panels on various regional and global issues, notably the United Nations Security Council reform, were held in various countries around the world.
Social aids
President Erdoğan emphasised that education was offered to young people and their families through a variety of programmes and continued:
"We both improved the effectiveness and range of social aids. We provided social aid totalling 82 billion Turkish Liras."
Education investments
President Erdoğan said they introduced 2,200 village life centres, the new face of village schools, established 6 thousand 4 kindergartens and increased the enrollment rate for 5-year-olds to 99 per cent.
Noting that they distributed 160 million supplementary resource books to students free of charge in addition to the textbooks, President Erdoğan stated in his flood that they completed the 10 Thousand Schools in Basic Education Project, which they started to strengthen equality of opportunity in education. "We have launched an education campaign in the fields of mathematics, Turkish and foreign languages to prepare our children better for the future," said President Erdoğan.
Transportation investments
President Erdoğan stated that they put the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge and Malkara-Çanakkale Highway Section, the project of the century, into the service of the nation, that they built 440 kilometres of divided road, 998 kilometres of roads with hot mix asphalt (HMA), and that they completed 18 road tunnels and 119 road bridges.
Noting that they launched various transportation projects, particularly the belt highways, in many provinces, President Erdoğan said they built a 106-kilometre railway line and renewed a 100-kilometre line of railway.
President Erdoğan continued:
"We completed the production of our National Electric Train Set. We carried approximately 311 million passengers on our railway lines. We made a 60-year-old dream come true; we introduced the Togg Technology Campus and took our first smart device off the assembly line. With the Electric Vehicles Charging Stations Support Programme, we started to establish charging stations in our 81 provinces."
President Erdoğan highlighted that they introduced the Türksat 5B satellite, a new stage in Türkiye's space adventure.
Recalling that Türkiye's first unmanned fighter aircraft, Bayraktar Kızılelma, made its maiden flight, President Erdoğan stated that they raised Türkiye to the 8th rank in the world's most prestigious ship flags list.
Stating that they planted 525 million saplings in forest areas damaged by fires, President Erdoğan said, "We have established the largest air fleet in the history of the Republic in the fight against forest fires. We have become the first European country to use UAV technology in the protection of forests."
Water investments
Noting that they transferred 24.2 million liras to 19 local governments for the construction of animal shelters, President Erdoğan stated that they built 62 dams, 19 ponds and barrages and ten hydroelectric power plants, and completed 16 drinking water, 72 irrigation, 50 underground storage and artificial feeding facilities.
President Erdoğan stated that they introduced 105 thousand 293 hectares of agricultural land to irrigation thanks to the water investments they had completed, and said:
"We introduced the Yusufeli Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant, the 1st in Türkiye and the 5th in the world. From the residences to the village houses, from the workplaces to the shops, from the industrial site to the hospital and school, we built the new Yusufeli from the ground up."
President Erdoğan said they released 84 million juvenile fish to water resources to protect and increase the population of life forms.
Culture and art investments
Stating that they ensured that 1121 cultural assets, which were illegally taken abroad, were brought back to their lands, President Erdoğan emphasised that they brought 10,500 artefacts obtained from archaeological excavations to museums.
President Erdoğan said they introduced 38 private museums, provided the restoration and conservation of 22,272 artefacts in museums, and renovated the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, some of the world's prominent museums.
Stating that they provided 92 million 198 thousand liras of support to the cinema industry, President Erdoğan said, "We thought there should be no children left who haven't seen a film on movie theatre, so we introduced cinema to our 1 million children."
President Erdoğan stated that they organised a total of 7 Culture Route Festivals in 5 different provinces with the participation of millions of people, and continuing to preserve the heritage of civilisation, they restored 96 foundation cultural assets in the country and three foundation cultural assets abroad, and they supported 35 different cultural projects with 112 million liras.
Pointing out that they have carried Türkiye to the peak in tourism with more than 51.5 million visitors and 46 billion dollars in revenue, President Erdoğan shared the information that they have provided 41.8 million liras of support to 474 private theatres.
Noting that via the Türkiye Scholarships Programme, they provided scholarships to 4,000 people applying from 172 countries, President Erdoğan recalled that they established the Alevi-Bektashi Culture and Djemevi Presidency to meet the needs of Alevi-Bektashi citizens and djemevi.
Defence industry investments
Underlining that they signed the first export contract of Akıncı UCAV, one of the greatest achievements in the history of the Republic, President Erdoğan said:
"We introduced National Combat Aircraft Engineering Centre and the Space Systems Engineering Centre. We included our munition-dropping unmanned aerial vehicle Boyga in the inventory. We added a new and powerful capability to our air defence system with the HİSAR O+ radio-frequency seeker-head test missile launch. We have successfully completed the KERKES Project, which enables our unmanned aerial vehicles to operate without the support of GPS.
We towed our new class of submarines, Hızır Reis, into the pool and made the first weld of Selman Reis. We conducted the first tank export of our country. We took the Şahin 40 mm Physical Destruction System, which we developed to destroy mini and micro UAVs, into our inventory. We started the operational tests of our unmanned maritime vehicles and herd UMVs. We put our air defence missile system, Sungur, into the service of our Mehmetçik with its new portable shoulder-launched version. We commissioned Türkiye's first intelligence ship, TCG Ufuk. We broke another record by exceeding 4 billion dollars in defence industry exports."