21st century will be the century of Türkiye: Erdoğan

KÜTAHYA

The 21st century will be marked as the century of Türkiye thanks to its economic and democratic achievements outlined by the 2053 and 2071 visions, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, suggesting that current difficulties, such as the high cost of living and inflation, will be eased by 2023.

“We are determined to turn the century we are living now into the century of Türkiye,” Erdoğan said during a rally in the western Anatolian town of Kütahya on Aug. 29. Erdoğan visited the city from where Türkiye’s Great Offensive against the Greek occupying forces started 100 years ago.

Recalling that Türkiye will celebrate its centennial next year and his government had outlined the “2023 objectives” in 2011, Erdoğan said “We are attaining these objectives step by step. We will later continue our path with the 2053 and 2071 visions.”

Türkiye will mark the 600th anniversary of the conquer of Istanbul in 2053 and the 1,000th anniversary of the Malazgirt Victory in 2071.

“Thanks to our policies and achievements in the past 20 years, Türkiye has become one of the most strategic countries in regards to regional and global developments. If we, today, have the vision of making Türkiye one of the top 10 economies in the world, it is thanks to our efforts for strengthening the infrastructure of the country in the past 20 years,” Erdoğan stated.

Türkiye still presently has problems in the economy, but this is a global phenomenon, Erdoğan said, noting that more developed nations are suffering from this turbulence even worse than Türkiye.

“They cannot find natural gas. The shelves in Europe are empty,” the president said, stressing that the government has just started to supply cheap food and other products to citizens of Türkiye.

“Türkiye is suffering less than other countries from this global storm because it changed its economic policy to be based on employment and production,” he said, underlining that the economic outlook will be much better in 2023.

“As I always say, we need more patience and support. Our biggest power is our unity and brotherhood,” he stated.

The more developed countries will face more social challenges due to the economic crisis, Erdoğan said. “This is just the beginning of the crisis for them. We will see how desperately they will try to resolve the problems when they face social turmoil stemming from supply chains and lack of production.”