Erdogan: Turkey won’t turn its back on East or West

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced in his new vision speech that Turkey is going to maintain its active foreign policy in various geographies and stand with oppressed nations in line with its national and international interests.

Speaking at the 7th Grand Ordinary Congress of the governing Justice and Development (AK) Party on Wednesday in Ankara, President Erdogan said Turkey does not have the luxury to turn its back on either East or West with its geographical location "located at the heart of Africa, Asia, and Europe.

In recent months, Turkey has taken a milder tone in its foreign relations, and Erdogan said the country would win over more friends in the international arena and turn the region into a region of peace.

"Ankara would set its foreign policy while protecting national and international rights of his country," Erdogan said.

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Active foreign policy

Stressing that Turkish assistance to Libya changed the course of the fate of war-weary people there, Erdogan said Libya could now carry on its democratic process and look at the future with hope.

Following the March 10 vote of confidence for new Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, Libyans hope to end the years of civil war that have engulfed the country since the ouster of late leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

While Turkey remains one of the most-affected countries in the context of the Syrian civil war, which made Turkey the world's top refugee-hosting country with over 3.6 million displaced Syrians, the Ankara administration aims to stand with Syrians, the president noted.

“Turkey will continue its efforts, continue to stand by Syrian people until Syria truly becomes a country run by Syrians,” he added.

Resolving conflicts

Syria has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al Assad regime cracked down with unexpected ferocity on pro-democracy protesters.

On last year’s conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh (Upper Karabakh), resulting in Azerbaijan liberating considerable territory from Armenian occupation, Erdogan said that the three-member Minsk group had been tasked with resolving the conflict, but instead only made it more complicated.

Erdogan said Turkey stood with Azerbaijan in its efforts to liberate territories under occupation.

During the 44-day conflict, which ended in a truce on November 10, 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages in Karabakh from a nearly three-decade occupation.

Before the victory, about 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory had been under illegal occupation.

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Preparations for new constitution

Touching on the need for a new constitution, Erdogan said a new civilian constitution for Turkey is inevitable, in light of both national history and the evolving global context.

“We want a constitution that our nation wants to be ruled by,” he stressed, adding that Turkey’s current constitution, largely the holdover from a 1980 coup, has lost its validity.

Underlining that the new constitution should be a constitution of the people, not putschists or a tutelage regime, he said that they want to make progress early next year on drawing up a new charter.

“The new constitution's text, which will emerge with the widest possible consensus, will definitely be submitted for the nation’s approval,” said Erdogan.

Erdogan also commented on various issues such as Turkey’s development since the early 2000s, financial issues, and foreign policy.

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Call on international investors

Touching on the recent fluctuations in the market, Erdogan said they do not reflect the potential of the Turkish economy.

Turkish stocks and the country’s local currency lost ground following dismissing of Turkish Central Bank Governor Naci Agbal early on Sunday.

The president urged citizens to put their gold and foreign currency assets into use with economy and production, while calling on international investors to trust in Turkey's strength and potential.

“In the coming days, we will reach a much better position by expanding the Turkish economy in terms of investment, production, employment, and exports,” Erdogan noted.

Touting to the tourism sector, one of the country’s main sources of income, Erdogan stressed that Turkey closed 2020 with 16 million tourists and $12.4 billion revenue amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We will continue proceeding through the target of 75 million tourists in the coming period,” he added.

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