Gov’t economic program secured our people’s jobs: Erdoğan

ANKARA

The Turkish government’s employment-oriented economic program has helped the country in turbulent times, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said.

“In a period of increasingly louder discussions about the danger of recession, we have secured our people’s jobs, livelihood and future thanks to our employment-oriented economic program,” Erdoğan said following a cabinet meeting on Oct. 10.

Noting that the world was going through a period of escalating security threats and rising global economic crisis, Erdoğan said that the turbulent times, which had started with the pandemic, the war, the rise of commodity prices, and the blockage of production and supply chains, and escalated into a possibility of recession, affected Türkiye as well.

“We as a country and as a nation are struggling against a series of problems, from the influx of irregular migrants to high cost of living,” he said. “As a result of the attacks and traps it has suffered from for a long time, Türkiye, unlike other countries, is a country that has the capability to foresee threats and to swiftly take precautions.”

“Every global crisis and the ensuing debates reaffirm Türkiye’s this quality,” Erdoğan added.

“Our security and social architecture, which we have consolidated by using our experience from our fight against terror, has made us more secure against other chaotic situations in our region. The double standards and injustices we suffered from in diplomacy for a long time enable us to develop balanced and constructive policies in the face of new regional fluctuations. Thanks to the mechanisms we have developed against economic attacks, we manage to minimize the destructive effects of the global crisis.”

Türkiye, which diversified its supplies and mobilized its local and renewable resources, is prepared for the energy crisis that preoccupied the entire world, particularly Europe, Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan also said Türkiye is prepared for possible increases in natural gas demand and unexpected supply interruptions as its gas storages are at full capacity.

“We have also started work to increase the annual capacity of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which is of critical importance for Europe’s energy supply security, from 16 billion cubic meters to 32 billion cubic meters annually,” the president added.

Stating that with the hydrocarbon agreement with Libya has created a new area of cooperation in the extraction of oil and derivatives from this country’s continental shelf, Erdoğan also said that the government was in contacts for new deals in the field of energy with Oman, Qatar, Indonesia, Algeria, Nigeria, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates.