President Erdoğan: Politics and the nation have no election agenda

President and AK Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed his party's parliamentary group meeting. He read the names of the 12 soldiers martyred in Operation Claw-Lock, offering his condolences to each soldier and wishing a speedy recovery to those still undergoing treatment. Erdoğan said, "We have never forgotten, and will never forget, that this heavenly homeland and this glorious flag were entrusted to us by our heroic martyrs and veterans. God willing, we will first achieve our goal of a 'Terror-Free Turkey,' then a 'Terror-Free Region,' and thus, we will rest the souls of our martyrs and show everyone, friend and foe alike, that their sacrifices were not in vain."

'WE ARE RIPPING OFF THESE BLOODY SHACKLES'

Erdoğan emphasized that there is no step in the Terror-Free Turkey effort that would tarnish the memory of the martyrs. He said, "Guided by the values ​​our martyrs sacrificed their lives for, we are, God willing, saving Türkiye from a half-century-long scourge; we are completely removing this bloody shackle that has been placed upon our country. We are carrying our epic of brotherhood, written with the sacrifices of our martyrs, into the future, much stronger and more resolute. I want our citizens to know this very well: After the wall of terror comes down, God willing, everything will be very different. Further pain and tears will be prevented. The winners of this, as I always say, will be all of Turkey, Turks, Kurds, and Arabs, followed by our entire region and our brothers and sisters in the region. Whatever we do, we do it with this understanding and this sensitivity."

"WE ARE ENTERING THE PHASE WHERE POSITIVE NEWS WILL BE RECEIVED"

Regarding his meeting with the Democratic Party (DEM) Party (DEM) delegation at the Presidential Complex on Monday, Erdoğan said, "We had a very productive, constructive, and sincere meeting with them. We reaffirmed our determination to implement our goal of a terror-free Turkey. We are entering a phase in which we will receive positive news in the coming days. We hope that this auspicious process will conclude successfully as quickly as possible, without any road accidents or the possibility of it being sabotaged by shady and corrupt circles. I once again wholeheartedly thank Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, Chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party and our People's Alliance partner, for the strong messages he delivered at yesterday's group meeting. Just as we have acted in complete solidarity, cooperation, and coordination since the first day as alliance partners, God willing, we will continue to walk together in the future. God willing, we will once again give our nation the historic good news it has been eagerly awaiting for decades."

"WE HAVE CONTROLLED ALL THE FIRES"

Erdoğan, reminding that numerous forest fires have broken out in recent weeks, said, “This year, a total of 3,282 fires have affected our various cities, 1,387 of which were in forest areas and 1,895 in non-forest areas. From the very beginning, we have responded to the fires with 27 aircraft, 105 helicopters, 6,000 ground vehicles, and 25,000 personnel. Our aircraft have made 19,880 sorties since the beginning of summer and dropped 65,300 tons of water. 864 of these fires occurred after June 26th; in other words, one-fourth of the fires that broke out since the beginning of the year occurred in the last 13 days alone. Thankfully, we have brought all of the fires under control. In the last two weeks, we waged a relentless fight against 20 major fires that reached serious proportions in İzmir, Sakarya, Hatay, Bilecik, Manisa, İstanbul, and Bursa. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our personnel who have risked their lives to eliminate these forest fires.” "I pray to God for mercy upon our forestry workers İbrahim Demir and Ragıp Şahin, who were martyred while responding to the fire in İzmir Ödemiş," he said.

'WE WILL REDUCE LOSSES AND DAMAGES TO A MINIMUM LEVEL'

Stating that Türkiye has been severely affected by the climate crisis, Erdoğan said that the Climate Law, which is a continuation of the Paris Climate Agreement, came into force after being published in today's Official Gazette. President Erdoğan said, "With the Climate Law, we will minimize the losses and damages caused by disasters. We will reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the action plans we have prepared in line with our national contribution declaration. We will further expand the use of clean technology throughout our country. With the Climate Law, we have also legally guaranteed cleaner and more efficient production processes in our sectors. We have clarified the duties and responsibilities of our Climate Change Directorate. Denigrating this law with fallacies such as 'Agriculture will be banned,' 'Farmers will not be able to plant the crops they want,' or 'People will be fed artificial meat,' is a grave example of ignorance. Those who are trying to spread the slander that global powers will seize our agricultural lands with the Paris Climate Agreement are, consciously or unconsciously, being pawns in the insidious operation against our nation and state. Every member of our nation can be assured of this: The Climate Law is a completely domestic and national law. It was prepared not to burden our people, but to leave a cleaner environment and a healthier future for our children. From here, I remind those who have lost their ability to think rationally because of conspiracy theories: There is no power in the world yet that can take over even a single inch of our land, let alone our agricultural lands. We will do anything when the time comes, even our 'bad', but God willing, we will never give up defending Türkiye and the Turkish nation. Especially on the environmental front, we will not learn from those who prefer the green of the dollar to the green of the forest and the blue of the euro to the blue of the sea, and we will not give a single shred of credence to their words.

'A PEOPLE'S PARTY BECAME A PARTY OF EXCHANGE'

President Erdoğan criticized the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), saying, "They were slapped so badly by the nation at the ballot box that they never recovered. They were supposedly going to make history according to the polls, but they became history. There is no consistency in their speeches. We are all following with astonishment the treatment they are seeing Mr. Kemal, whom they market as 'Türkiye's hope,' deserve today. In light of the recent discussions, we understand better that as the People's Alliance, we have not only brought five years, each worth its weight in gold, to our country, but also saved the future of our nation. The judiciary has launched an investigation into the biggest theft ring in the history of the Republic, the most reckless organized crime organization of all time. Those who complained, those who were complained about, those who took bribes, those who practically racketeered cities, those who put people in a difficult situation and robbed them, are all CHP members. This theft, racketeering, and bribery system, which started in Istanbul, has spread to many cities and districts in waves. In other words, the tentacles of the octopus in different cities and districts are one by one." It's starting to be exposed. The situation is the same in other cities. There, too, the complainants and those being complained about are all CHP members. In the cooperative scandal in Izmir, which they call "our vision project to compete with TOKİ," those who went to the courts to seek their rights are all CHP members, as neither the perpetrators nor the victims could make their cries heard at CHP headquarters. What's even more alarming is that the scandal erupted while still in the construction phase, because they stole iron. The cooperative in question is a project the CHP leadership has held up as an example, saying, "We will spread this model to every province in Türkiye." A century-old people's party has become a racket. Ultimately, hundreds of victims resort to resorting to the judiciary as a last resort. The judiciary simply handles the complaints submitted to it. In other words, this is a purely legal process, not a political one. And we are not involved in any of this. However, the CHP has lost its balance to such an extent that even a criminal incident involving bribery, with euros gushing out of baklava boxes, "He's shamelessly trying to blame us. When the arrests took place, they immediately called it a 'political operation'; when the bribery footage surfaced, they sat down in their seats. Now the CHP Chairman has come out and said, 'I'm shocked.' If you go with that mindset, Özgür Efendi, you'll be even more shocked, embarrassed, and ultimately disgraced," he said.

'THE LATEST VICTIM OF THE CHP MENTALITY WAS BAKLAVA'

Regarding the Manavgat Municipality investigation, Erdoğan said, "They have tainted baklava, one of the most famous brands in our country, just like everything else they lay their hands on. The latest victim of the CHP mentality has been baklava. I believe it would be beneficial for the CHP to accept this truth: The CHP administration may tolerate thieves, corruptors, and fraudsters just because they are from their party; but no state institution does or can do so. It is the primary duty of the judiciary and the police to hold every penny stolen, every bribe taken, every public property destroyed accountable before the law. No matter how much the CHP Chairman increases the dose of threats, insults, and delirium, he will face this truth every time. Whether it is in a suitcase or a box of baklava, if you have accepted a bribe, if you have handed over resources that should have been spent on the citizens to someone else, if you have turned the municipalities that the nation has entrusted to your honor into a stooge, if you have taken the people's money with their dough; make no mistake, you will be held accountable to the judiciary. We are also committed to the Constitution and "We will continue to do whatever is necessary within the authority granted by law," he said.

"WE DON'T KNOW WHICH ELECTION THIS PERSON IS TALKING ABOUT"

Regarding CHP Chairman Özgür Özel’s statements about early elections, Erdoğan said, “The person at the head of the CHP has been saying ‘ballot boxes, too.’ for a while now. In this country, except for the daggers the CHP has plunged into democracy, the ballot box has always been the crown jewel of the nation and politicians. I remind him of this once more: Since the Constitution and the Election Law have not changed, the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in 2028, and the local elections in 2029, Mr. Özgür. It may be your own dream to put your finger on a random Sunday on the calendar and say, ‘Let the election be held on this date.’ But politics and the nation have no such agenda. The nation gave us the task of governing the country for 5 years with 52.18 percent of the votes in the last election. God willing, we will use this period to the fullest. Therefore, we do not know which ballot box or which election this person is talking about right now. They think the ballot box is an accessory to the theater they are staging in their own internal struggles. However, remember, the ballot box, "It's honor. The Republic is also a regime of rules and institutions. If you want to turn the Republic and democracy into a project to make your thieves, who are accountable before the law, into MPs and evade justice, make no mistake, the nation will not allow it. Digging tunnels from prisons to Parliament is not the business of politics," he said.

'WE STAND STRONGLY IN THE SAME PLACE'

Erdoğan said, "With the results of the 2023 elections, there is a highly complex political and economic picture of Turkey, one that has changed tactics. Every political operation, every attempt at chaos and coup, every attempt at international siege in our country over the last 10-15 years has undoubtedly been accompanied by economic attacks. We know very well the scenarios behind the financial attacks launched and expanded through Far Eastern markets with teams assembled in the middle of the night. We also know very well the aims of the chaotic environments created using all means, from foreign currency to bonds, despite no valid reason. We have taken measures and implemented programs to disrupt all these schemes with minimal cost and without straying from our main goals. Of course, in the meantime, we have also experienced many events with heavy costs, such as terrorism and earthquakes. The cost of the February 6th earthquakes alone is over $100 billion. The financial scale of the theft, extortion, and bribery scheme that began in Istanbul and expanded over time is estimated to be tens of billions of dollars. You can imagine the magnitude of the disaster the CHP has inflicted on the country, the burden it has placed on the people, and the additional bill it has imposed on the Turkish economy." "Do the math. You can be sure that the judiciary does not discriminate based on party affiliation when holding people accountable. Since taking over the nation's trust in 1994, we have always maintained an uncompromising stance on this issue. Today, we stand firmly in the same position," he said.

"WE WILL ENSURE THAT THE 4 PROPOSALS BECOME LAW"

President Erdoğan, noting that the legislative year is nearing its end in the General Assembly process, said, "We are slowly wrapping up a very busy calendar, both in terms of domestic politics and external developments. Since October 1st, you have worked day and night to serve the nation. Despite the opposition's attempts to obstruct Parliament, you dedicated and concentrated all your time, both physically and mentally, to the General Assembly's work. Regardless of the testing of your patience, the straining of your nerves, and the attempts to thwart your will through various fait accompli, you have duly safeguarded the nation's trust. As the AK Party and the People's Alliance, we are experiencing the peace of mind of fulfilling our responsibilities to our nation in complete solidarity. We will work without slowing down until Parliament adjourns, and God willing, we will ensure that all four bills on the agenda are enacted. I ask you to make the most of the remaining time."

Following the parliamentary group meeting, President Erdoğan responded to the press member's question, "MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli supported the broadcasting of the İmamoğlu case on TRT. What do you think?" by saying, "If Mr. Bahçeli made such a statement, it would be a very nice recognition, it would be beneficial."

He came together with Kurtulmus

Following the parliamentary group meeting, President Erdoğan met with Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş in Parliament. He was accompanied by AK Party Parliamentary Group Chairman Abdullah Güler and Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik. The closed-door meeting lasted approximately one hour. No statement was made after the meeting.

DHA

Reporter: News Center