Turkish PM: Gov’t no lame duck when it comes to nation’s interests

ANKARA

DHA photo

The necessity of forming a new government does not constrain the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP) government from protecting the country’s interests, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said, while reiterating that Turkey was prepared for all necessary measures to tackle security threats along its borders.

Davutoğlu explained the AKP’s political journey in epic language in a speech delivered to his party’s newly elected deputies at a parliamentary group meeting on June 30. He underlined how the party had managed to overcome various crises while always ensuring stability in the country since it came to power for the first time in fall 2002. 

“When the closure case was opened against the AK Parti, we patiently waited. We didn’t postpone any affair in the country,” Davutoğlu said, as he referred to the fact that the AKP narrowly escaped being outlawed by the Constitutional Court for undermining Turkey’s secular system in 2008.

“I am telling this because there are some [people] suggesting that some decision cannot be made until the new government is formed. No, we will take and implement whichever is the most correct decision,” Davutoğlu said.

His remarks were apparently a response to Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who strongly warned the government against any military intervention in Syria, while also urging the AKP government not to forget that they are “an outgoing government.”

“We cannot remain indifferent in the face of developments beyond our borders. We would make the required decisions even if there were just one second to accomplish it, not a year, a day or a moment,” Davutoğlu said.

“When we look at Syria, we do not see the Kurd, the Arab, the Alevi or the Sunni. We just see the neighboring Syrian people. That being the case, if some people attempt to change the map, we will display an open stance,” he said. “We won’t let Turkey be exposed to a fait accompli, or be dragged into adventures.”

The prime minister’s remarks came after the National Security Council (MGK), chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on June 29, expressed concern about the threat of “terrorism” from the Syrian border region as domestic media reported Ankara was considering military steps to counter security risks from Syria. 

“As the head of the CHP, I am warning them not to drag Turkey into an adventure; it would have a high cost. And the people on the street, not the politicians, would pay such a bill,” said Kılıçdaroğlu in remarks published in the June 29 edition of daily Hürriyet.