Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a press conference following the Presidential Cabinet Meeting, emphasizing Ankara's stance on inflation and its commitment to regional stability amidst ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Delivering remarks following the Presidential Cabinet Meeting, Erdoğan drew attention to the ongoing fight against inflation, and said: “Our stance on this issue is to reduce inflation and ensure permanent increase in prosperity, rather than make it through the day by taking palliative measures.”

“We remain firmly committed to our roadmap in economy”

Noting that Türkiye, having left behind a period of elections, is now focused on urgent issues such as economy, security, earthquake, rights and freedoms, and the fight against terrorism, Erdoğan said: “The global economic crisis, which erupted with the Covid-19 pandemic and further deepened with the subsequent developments, still rages on particularly with its inflation aspect. Almost everybody, including developed countries, experiences major setbacks on the issues of production, employment, investments, and restraining inflation. Unfortunately, these negative developments also affect Türkiye, partly due to the tensions and conflicts in our near environs. We manage the regional crises breaking out one after another on the one hand, and remain firmly committed to our roadmap in economy on the other.”

The Medium-Term Program launched last year has started to yield positive outcomes, the President said. “We ended 2023 with a 4.5% growth rate. We exceeded $11 trillion in national income and $13 thousand in per capita income for the first time in our history. We are the 11th biggest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. Data from the first quarter of 2024 suggest our net exports significantly contribute to our growth. Our exports in January-March of 2024 increased to $63.7 billion, up 3.6% from the same period a year ago. Our exports in March reached $22.578 billion, which is the third highest figure in March exports. There has been a downward trend in imports since August. The export-import coverage ratio has improved 1.3 points year-on-year to 75%. We expect our growth rate to near 4% by the end of the year with the positive impact of exports. Our employment market in particular has a strong momentum. The February figures announced yesterday show seasonally adjusted employment has reached 32.4 million on an annual basis with an increase of 1.156 million. Unemployment rate, on the other hand, was 8.7%. As is the case all over the world, our main problem is the inflation pressure aggravated by the high cost of living. We are well aware of the problems wage earners, and particularly pensioners, experience due to inflation. Our stance on this issue is to reduce inflation and ensure permanent increase in prosperity, rather than make it through the day by taking palliative measures.”

“Türkiye supplies the largest amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza”

Pointing out that Türkiye continues to be an island of stability in its region while the world is suffering in the grip of wars, conflicts, political and economic crises, and social turmoil, President Erdoğan highlighted the balanced and principled foreign policy Türkiye pursues and the historic successes achieved in defense industry as the factors underpinning the country’s stability. “Since day one of the Gaza crisis, we have been cautious about the prospects of the fire spreading across the region. While endeavoring to stop the bloodshed and secure the flow of humanitarian aid to the region, we have also exerted intense efforts at every level to prevent escalation. Türkiye has consolidated its position as the country supplying the largest amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza with the departure of its 9th vessel with aid, weighing 3,774 tons, today. Türkiye is the country that led the export restrictions on Israel after October 7.”

Underscoring the importance of pinpointing the true cause of the problem in the recent tension with Iran, Erdoğan stated: “It wouldn’t be a fair and principled stance to make an analysis only by taking the night of April 13 into consideration. The Israeli government has been taking provocative steps since October 7 to spread the fire across the region. Israel’s attack on Iran’s consular building in Damascus, in violation of the international law and the Vienna Convention, was the last straw. With the exception of a few countries, there has been no reaction to the Israeli government's disregard for international norms. Those who have not spoken out against Israel's aggressive attitude for months immediately started a race to condemn Iran's response. Indeed, who must be condemned and denounced is Netanyahu himself. The one who has massacred over 34 thousand people in Gaza including women, children, infants and civilians, who has killed journalists whose sole purpose is to produce news, who has bombarded schools, churches, mosques, refugee camps and even those waiting in line for aid materials, who has been committing genocide before the eyes of the world for exactly 193 days, and who has been engaged in every sort of spoiled acts to ease the public pressure, is no one but Netanyahu. Netanyahu puts at risk the lives of both his own citizens and all the peoples in the region to prolong his political life. It is indisputable that Netanyahu and his bloodthirsty administration are the primary culprits of the tension that worried us immensely on the night of April 13. We are of the opinion that statements made without acknowledging this fact would not help de-escalation.”

Stressing that adding fuel to the fire and continually spoiling the Netanyahu administration will not do anyone any good, Erdoğan called upon all the actors to stop their attacks and to act responsibly. “Our region is at risk of increased tensions unless the oppression and genocide in Gaza are put to an end. For 193 days, the sole victim is the innocent Gazan people. Anyone with responsibility, particularly the Islamic world and the Arab League must raise their voices higher. To this end, we will continue to push every door and to do everything in our power.” (ILKHA)