Addressing the AK Party’s 23rd foundation anniversary event, President Erdoğan said: “We have been striving to fulfill our duties towards our nation properly since we undertook the responsibility of governing Türkiye. In the face of the complexity of problems, we act with an understanding that tackles issues courageously and focuses on the solution, no matter how big they are, instead of acting with timidity, hesitation or fear.”
President and Justice and Development (AK) Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the party’s 23rd foundation anniversary event in Ankara.
“WE ACT WITH AN UNDERSTANDING THAT TACKLES ISSUES COURAGEOUSLY”
President Erdoğan said: “AK Party, which had emerged and grown as a grassroots movement, became the hope of millions of people in a very short span of time. We were welcomed with great enthusiasm wherever we visited. People from all walks of life took a great interest in us. We revived the hopes of a nation feeling tired, exhausted and desperate. Our nation, years later, found a reflection of itself in AK Party. Our nation saw a sincere, qualified and hardworking team that loved Türkiye and embodied the nation’s values. It was with this glorious spirit that we assumed the responsibility of governing the country just 14 months after our establishment. We have been striving to fulfill our duties towards our nation properly since we undertook the responsibility of governing Türkiye with the approval of our beloved nation. In the face of the complexity of problems, we act with an understanding that tackles issues courageously and focuses on the solution, no matter how big they are, instead of acting with timidity, hesitation or fear.”
“WE HAVE FACED COUNTLESS INSIDIOUS SCENARIOS AIMED AT HINDERING US FROM SERVING, WORKING AND PRODUCING”
Drawing attention to the obstacles overcome thus far, President Erdoğan stated: “We have faced countless insidious scenarios aimed at hindering us from serving, working and producing. We have coped with many threats including street incidents, tutelage attempts, bloody coup attempts, and terror attacks. They flagrantly called for coups by urging the army to intervene in the heart of Ankara. They attempted to shut down our party by making use of newspaper articles. They tried to restrict the will of the parliament by making up something like ‘367’. They provoked our people with the ‘republic rallies’. They set our streets on fire during the Gezi incidents under the excuse of the relocation of a few trees. They set all their pawns on us including the PKK, FETO, DAESH and DHKP-C, whose strings they pull. They tried to usurp the will of the nation by using on December 17-25 the assassins who had infiltrated our security and judiciary and by using on the night of July 15 the traitors within our armed forces. During every election period, they resorted to countless methods to cast a shadow over the dignity of the polls and to set various groups against one another. Whenever Türkiye recovered and whenever it attempted a breakthrough in economy, they tried to block us under various excuses. But thank Allah, we have never succumbed to any of these attempts.”
“WE HAVE WORKED AND ENDEAVORED FOR OUR NATION THROUGHOUT 23 YEARS”
Noting that today marks AK Party’s 23rd foundation anniversary, President Erdoğan went onto say: “In November, our party will have completed its 22 years in power in a row. We have spent each one of our 23 years, 22 of them in power, by working, serving, and producing solutions to the nation’s problems. With the understanding that serving the people means serving Allah, we, throughout 23 years, have worked and endeavored for our nation, which we take pride in being a member of. Our nation knows very well the distance we have enabled Türkiye to cover. Our brothers and sisters living abroad witness firsthand the enormous transformation in our country every time they come to their homeland. Our pensioners, civil servants, workers, industrialists and women are the closest witnesses to our country’s development and democracy initiatives. The oppressed and victims in our kindred geography are cognizant of what a Türkiye that has grown stronger and embraced its ancient values over the past 23 years stands for. Any conscientious person that carries out an objective assessment acknowledges the gains AK Party has made for our country.”
Citing some of the major achievements enjoyed by Türkiye over the past 23 years, President Erdoğan stated: “Our 85 million people already follow closely and appreciate our strides in energy. We have extended natural gas from five provinces to 703 settlement centers in our 81 provinces. We have increased our country’s installed power from 31,847 megawatts to 307,600 megawatts, 56 percent from renewable energy. We have made our country’s biggest natural gas reserve discovery of 710 billion cubic meters in the Black Sea. We have also made a historic discovery in Gabar with a daily oil production of 100 thousand barrels.”
“WE HAVE ELEVATED TÜRKİYE TO THE LEAGUE OF ELITE COUNTRIES”
Pointing out that Türkiye, the number of whose foreign missions has increased from 163 to 261, now has the third largest diplomatic network in the world, President Erdoğan stated that Türkiye’s exports, which stood at 36 billion dollars when they came to power, have increased to 261.5 billion dollars, and added: “The number of people visiting our country has jumped from 15 million to 57 million, with our tourism revenues rising to 55.9 billion dollars. In industry and technology, we have increased the number of our organized industrial zones from 191 to 361, the number of our industrial districts from zero to 43, the number of our research and development centers from zero to 1306. Our 60-year-long dream, Türkiye’s automobile TOGG is now on the roads.”
Stressing that Türkiye has enjoyed the most extensive localization success of its history in defense industry, President Erdoğan said: “We have elevated a country that was dependent on others even for infantry rifles to the league of elite countries that can produce their own tanks, cannons, missiles, rockets, planes and UAVs. We have equipped our army, police and gendarmerie with the most advanced weapons. We have provided our security forces with all kinds of equipment and support they need in combatting terrorism and defending the homeland.”
“WE HAVE ACHIEVED AN AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF 5.4 PERCENT IN THE TURKISH ECONOMY”
Noting that the gross domestic product has grown by 201 percent in real terms and by 370 percent in dollar terms, President Erdoğan said: “It is particularly important that our national income per capita has increased from some 3,608 dollars to the level of 13,110 dollars in 2023. We have achieved an average annual growth rate of 5.4 percent in the Turkish economy. Türkiye, which had attracted 15 billion dollars’ worth of foreign investment in the 30 years before our government, has attracted 266 billion dollars in investments during our term in power. We have boosted our Central Bank’s reserves from 27 billion dollars to the threshold of 150 billion dollars. By paying off the 23.5 billion dollars debt to the IMF, we have truly given our country economic independence.”
“WE WILL STAND AGAINST ISRAEL'S ATTEMPTS TO SET THE ENTIRE REGION ON FIRE”
Underscoring that Türkiye will maintain its constructive, proactive, calm and dignified stance in foreign policy, President Erdoğan added: “We will stand against Israel's attempts to set the entire region on fire. President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine will be our guest today. He will address the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (GNAT) tomorrow as a guest of honor on behalf of the Palestinian people. He will this time extend the voice of the Palestinian people, who are putting up a fight for liberation, to the entire world from the rostrum of our parliament. We will show that just as Netanyahu has the right to speak at the U.S. Congress, Mahmoud Abbas has the right to speak at our country’s parliament. We will maintain our efforts until the genocidal baby killers of more than 40 thousand innocent people are held accountable to the law for the oppression they inflict. We will not turn a blind eye to the revival of terrorism, which has almost been eradicated as a result of our operations, or to any faits accomplis in the north of Syria.”
