We will build Century of Türkiye with our youth: Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

The Century of Türkiye will be built by the youth of this country, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, stressing that his Justice and Development Party (AKP) has always been the political party that received the most votes from young people.

“Only in the last two years, we came together with our youth in 34 separate programs. While some people are trying to get themselves going on social media, we are walking towards the Century of Türkiye hand in hand with our youth,” Erdoğan told at a youth program in Istanbul on Jan. 8.

The AKP will continue to be the party garnering the most votes from the youth in the upcoming elections, Erdoğan said, informing that the party’s youth branch registered 423,000 new members only in the past two years, making the total more than 1 million.

“I announce from this podium once again: We have never allowed those who tried to drive a wedge between us and our youth, and we will never allow afterward,” Erdoğan said, noting the AKP governments resolved all the problems of the youth in the past 20 years.

“In the past, only one student out of 10 could go to university. Is it so now? No, the doors of the universities are open to those who want to study. It was us who opened this path. For many years, the students had difficulty paying university fees and finding a dormitory,” he stated.

For many years, the youngsters of Türkiye were disallowed to voice their thoughts and express their freedoms and dreams, the president suggested, stressing that all these problems have been fully resolved. He also recalled that restrictions for students wearing headscarves in universities have also been removed during the AKP governments.

“We continue to stand with our youth in every field, from industry to agriculture, from science to sports and from employment to housing. We are preparing to make the second century of our republic the Century of Türkiye with our youth. But, of course, we first should claim a big victory in the 2023 elections,” Erdoğan added.