Turkey to unveil reform package in March: Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

Turkey will announce a human rights action plan next week and an economic reform package in two weeks, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Feb. 24.

“Next Tuesday, we will share the Human Rights Action Plan, prepared in line with the expectations of all segments,” Erdoğan said, addressing his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) provincial congress in Istanbul.

Also, in two weeks, the country will reveal an economic reform, he noted.

“I hope we will reveal our determination to grow our country once again by announcing our economic reform package,” Erdoğan stressed.

Recalling that the voters kept the AKP in power for several years, Erdoğan said his party achieved success thanks to the “service” provided to citizens by the government.

Erdoğan noted that his party also assesses its “shortcomings” and has stepped up for making reforms.

“What our nation expects from us in return is service. As AK Party, we know that we owe all our achievements to our nation. We are looking for the cause of our shortcomings in ourselves. The accounting we made has led us to more firmly claim our reform agenda,” the president stated.

“This is how we always found the way out in our country, whose politics and economy have been under constant attack since 2013. Now we will proceed in the same direction. People’s Alliance will continue to build bigger and stronger Turkey,” Erdoğan added.

Expressing that they will accelerate this process with the new reforms that the government will implement in judiciary and economy, Erdoğan said, “By preparing a new civilian constitution with our nation, we will both save this country from the shame of being governed by the constitution of the coup period and have the guide of our 2053 vision. We will present the Human Rights Action Plan to our nation.”

Gov’t insistent to build Kanal Istanbul

Explaining that all the technical work for the Kanal Istanbul project has been completed, Erdoğan said, “We will build Kanal Istanbul, we will do it out of spite and how Istanbul will become beautiful, and they will see this.”

With Kanal Istanbul, the government is aiming at opening an artificial seaway between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea to mitigate the oil tanker traffic through the Bosphorus Strait as well as constructing new earthquake-resistant residential areas along the channel.