Turkey acts more effectively with presidential system, says Erdoğan

ANKARA

Turkey’s reflexes under its current presidential system are faster and more effective and comprehensive amid regional and global crises, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on July 21.

“The Presidential Government System’ is the first administrative reform implemented by our nation’s decision in our search for democracy for 200 years. Our nation is the owner of this reform,” Erdoğan said during an event where he assessed the past two years since Turkey switched from a parliamentary system to the current presidential system after a referendum.

“In the new system, we have further clarified the relationship between the executive, legislative and judicial bodies,” the president said.

Erdoğan said he would willingly adjust his policy if a better and more effective system of government were found, underlining that the “pains of change” had been inevitable as the country made corrections in many areas from politics to society.

“It is inevitable that we experienced the pains of change in many areas from politics to social corrections while changing our administrative system. Like any change, it will take time to settle. As we progress toward our goals step by step, we overcome them,” he said.

In the past two years, the government has provided “uninterrupted service” to the nation with 64 decrees and 2,755 decisions, according to Erdoğan.

Speaking about developments in Libya, the president said: “We are closely following some recent developments.”

Turkey exercises its national sovereignty in operations carried out for its border security, Erdoğan said.

He emphasized that Turkey did not seek to violate the rights of other countries but would continue to protect its own rights.

Protecting Turkey against all kinds of threats is the primary condition to be a state, according to his government, the president said.

In the last two years, Turkey has carried out more than 234,000 counterterrorism operations against the PKK terror organization, 224,000 of which were in rural areas and the remainder in urban areas, he said.

“We neutralized a total of 2,354 terrorists in terrorist operations, thereby reducing the domestic terrorist presence to nearly 400. With persuasion efforts, we saved 530 terrorists from the clutches of the organization. In the last 1.5 years, we have blocked nearly 400 actions of the PKK,” he claimed.

Erdoğan also said Turkish troops would stay in Syria until the country achieves peace and stability. “We will continue to stay in this country until the Syrian people, our thousand-year-old neighbor and our brother, gain freedom, peace, and trust,” he said.

“Nowadays they are holding an election, a so-called election,” Erdoğan said of a parliamentary election on July 19 in regions controlled by the Syrian government following nearly a decade of civil war.