“Our resilience in the face of the global economic crisis proves that we have been following the right path”

Addressing the Economic Transformation and New Paradigms Summit, President Erdoğan said: “Our resilience and our moves in the face of the global economic crisis, which was triggered by the pandemic and has been aggravated by the war, prove that we have been following the right path.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the Economic Transformation and New Paradigms Summit at Dolmabahçe Office in Istanbul.

President Erdoğan stated that the world is trying to understand and adapt to the challenges brought about by the post-pandemic and war period.

Noting that Türkiye, as it has been experiencing these challenges for a long time, is now ahead of other countries, President Erdoğan said: “Our approaches, particularly regarding economy policies, were considered odd by many circles when we first mentioned and implemented them. However, every global crisis that has erupted has reaffirmed that our approaches are correct, our methods are realistic, and our practices are accurate.”

“WE HAVE DEVELOPED OUR OWN ECONOMIC PROGRAMME”

Stressing that what Türkiye has done so far can by no means be branded as reinventing the wheel, President Erdoğan stated: “What we are doing is to draw up a new roadmap for ourselves by analyzing in the best accurate manner the regional and global developments and our country’s position vis-à-vis these developments, as well as our strengths and weaknesses. To be honest, political and economic sanctions imposed unjustly and unlawfully on our country has compelled us to resort to this path. We altered our economic policy, which we had executed according to the rules of the global economic system for a long time, in a bid to get rid of these traps. However, while doing so, we have never got detached from global or local realities and the magnificent reservoir offered by financial theories, nor from centuries-old rich experiences. Quite the contrary, we have made the best use of these elements to develop our own economic programme.”

“Most importantly, our resilience and our moves in the face of the global economic crisis, which was triggered by the pandemic and has been aggravated by the war, prove that we have been following the right path,” the President stressed.

President Erdoğan, addressing the participants, went onto say: “Given your professions, you know the best the transformation in financial paradigms and its implications for national economies. Have no doubts whatsoever that we have benefited from your views, assessments and proposals in every step we have taken thus far. We will continue to advance towards our goals following the light I believe you will be shedding in front of us through your experiences.”  

“WE HAVE TAKEN STEPS TO REBUILD OUR COUNTRY IN EVERY AREA”

President Erdoğan said: “Once we came to power 20 years ago, we launched a comprehensive work to redress Türkiye’s shortcomings in democracy and infrastructure dating back to a century ago. We have taken steps to rebuild, so-to-speak, our country in every area from education, healthcare and security to justice, transportation, energy and agriculture. Since our citizens are cognizant of our efforts and achievements, they have supported us with higher numbers of votes in every election.” 

Noting that a new situation and picture has emerged as the country’s needs in democracy and infrastructure have been met, President Erdoğan went onto say: “We noticed that Türkiye’s position in the world was not in keeping with its true potential and capacity. That is why we first laid out our goals for 2023. This programme is mainly comprised of our development and macroeconomic goals. However, even that step by itself caused many scenarios to be put in front of our county that are devoid of any rational justification and concrete basis or any connection with global developments. Scenarios that are hatched up with an intention to embroil our country in political instability, social chaos, the quagmire of terror and regional crises are solely aimed at derailing Türkiye’s progress in democracy and development. Yet, we have foiled all of these plots one by one thanks to our people’s support.”

The last stage of the scenarios taking aim at Türkiye envisages economic destruction for the country, stressed the President, adding: “I assume we are the only country in the world whose economy is threatened with destruction even though there is no war, conflict or tension going on, in other worlds without any visible cause. Yet again, we are the only country against whom various groups officially listed as a terrorist organization by the international community are supported blatantly through the trickery of name changes. Here I don’t even mention the fact that we bear all the burden of the humanitarian crises in our region without any substantial support as well as the political, economic and social cost this inflicts.”

“WE ARE TAKING ALL MEASURES TO COMPENSATE FOR THE LOSS IN WELFARE CAUSED BY INFLATION”

President Erdoğan pointed out that amid such troubles, Türkiye has developed its own economic programme against the attempts to obliterate the country’s economy in the grip of interest rates, exchange rates and inflation.

Stressing that traps set for Türkiye through global financial instruments were thwarted in the first instance, President Erdoğan said: “Thereafter, we have recalibrated the focus of our economic programme. We have adopted a growth model on the basis of investments, employment, production, exports, and current surplus, all of which we have formulated into a single template. It is this story that lies behind the fact that Türkiye keeps advancing on its path with record-breaking growth rates as opposed to declining growth rates and even rumors of recession in the rest of the world.”

President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “We have of course sustained injuries as well in the meantime. We have tackled through alternative methods the troubles inflicted by foreign exchange operations. We have stood out with our robust infrastructure, our young and extensive human resources and our flexible business model amid the disruptions in the traditional production and supply channels across the world. Our relatively high inflation might be surprising for some. Yet, we have the capacity to lower this inflation at a pace that would be even more surprising for them. We lowered such high inflation rates in the past, as well. While boosting the employment to its highest level in the history of the country, we are taking all measures to compensate for the loss in welfare caused by inflation. Many indicators such as the stable rise in industrial production, the growing revival in tourism, and the increase in exports show that we are advancing towards our goals. We are approaching step by step the goal of making our country one of the top 10 economies in the world, a target we announced 11 years ago in 2011.”