Elections will be held as scheduled, in 2023: Erdoğan

ANKARA

The next presidential and parliamentary polls will be held in June 2023 and there will be no early polls before this date, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, calling on his Justice and Development Party (AKP) fellows to work harder to be re-elected into government in what he called “the country’s most vital elections ever.”

“They [the opposition] still call for early polls. There will be no early polls. They will be held in June 2023. Going to polls every 15 or 20 months is only seen in primitive tribes. We are running this country as a modern entity,” Erdoğan told the representatives of the AKP’s provincial branches at a party meeting in Ankara on Nov. 23.

Erdoğan’s statements came after opposition parties continuously urged the government to go to early polls amid an ongoing economic turbulence that has seen the Turkish Lira’s value devaluate.

The AKP and its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), will get the majority of parliament in 2023, Erdoğan said, vowing to destroy any sort of economic, political or military plot against Turkey in the aftermath of Turkey’s centennial.

“We will accomplish our struggle in the best way and we will deliver a very bright and new future to our children,” he said. All the elections are critical but given the circumstances affecting both Turkey and the world, the 2023 polls will be of vital importance for Turkey and its future role in its wider neighborhood, the president stated.

“We have one-and-a-half year to go to polls. That’s why we will work hard and knock on the doors of all our people, shake their hands and win their hearts,” he said. Leading the longest-serving party in power in modern Turkish history, Erdoğan vowed to extend his rule and “break” new records.

Economic liberation war

Erdoğan expressed his views about ongoing economic problems after a routine cabinet meeting late Nov. 22. There are still setbacks in the global economy, which still suffers from the negative impacts of the pandemic, Erdoğan said, underlining that the global economy was further undermined by developed countries’ monetary expansion and negative interest rates policies.

“As a country with great knowledge and experience in financial crisis management just like in every area, we are determined to make use of the opportunities offered by the critical period the world is currently going through,” he said

“We see the games those who seek to push our country out of the equation play over exchange rates, interest rates and price hikes as they used to do in the past, and we display our will to move forward with our own game plans,” he said.

Turkey will continue to prioritize investments, production, employment, exportation and growth, Erdoğan stated.

“We have seen the same game in many international incidents at many platforms but have honorably come out of every struggle we have undertaken by taking a firm stance. Just as we have liberated our country from so many traps and incidents, so will we ensure that our country emerges victoriously from this war of economic liberation with the help of God and the support of our nation.”