Erdoğan joins the water debate in Ankara

President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements regarding the discussions surrounding the water problem in Ankara, criticizing Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş without naming him, and defended TRT's controversial broadcasts.

Erdoğan's statements are as follows:

As you know, the family is one of the battlefields of culture wars. Today, the institution of the family is under a greater attack and siege than ever before.

Distorted relationships are being encouraged and perversions are being promoted through characters carefully placed in every relevant or irrelevant place, from TV series to movies, from cartoons to games and toys.

In this respect, I find TRT's effort to popularize family-oriented, clean content on both traditional and digital platforms like Tabii to be very valuable. First of all, we must understand this very well. Dear friends. For us, the success of TRT is its ability to produce works that all members of the family can watch with peace of mind without any concern.

I believe that with TRT Genç, which started broadcasting today, broadcasts in this vein will increase and diversify even further.

With the broadcasts it will make in a wide range from science to technology, culture and arts to sports, history to current life, our TRT Genç channel will support the mental, emotional, and cultural development of our youth. We especially need the contribution of platforms like TRT Genç in the fight against addiction, which is the plague of our age.

It is a fact that there is a serious increase in types of addiction, especially virtual betting, gambling, and drugs, on screens. Our youth, who are the guarantee of our bright future, are falling more into the clutches of these troubles with the influence of digital platforms and social media.

Due to the gamification strategy, unfortunately, almost every phone has become a kind of casino.

Digital games entered for entertainment and to pass time function as a trap that drags our youth into the scourge of virtual betting and gambling.

The use of tobacco, cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs is also encouraged by these channels, and the health and future of our youth are being stolen.

When we look at the family tragedies experienced in our country recently, we see that the biggest culprits are alcohol, virtual betting, gambling, and drugs. Likewise, these scourges are at the very top of the reasons for divorces and fights between spouses and within the family.

Distinguished guests, my very dear young brothers and sisters. When we evaluate the issue in all its aspects, we can all see this truth very clearly.

Drug, alcohol, virtual betting, gambling, and cigarette addiction have reached dimensions as harmful as terrorism, or even more harmful, for our national fabric. Families are being torn apart, generations are being lost. Resources that should go to employment, production, education, and health are unfortunately feeding the bloody gears of the enemies of humanity.

This is the bitter truth that those who try to normalize gambling on group podiums and those who say we will make alcohol cheaper when they come to power persistently fail to see. This is the frightening picture that those who portray alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs almost as symbols of freedom close their eyes to.

This is the situation that those who enter the race to whitewash drug dealers with various excuses do not want to face. But we see this, we hear it, we are aware of the danger. As a government that conducts politics with the principle of 'let the human live so that the state may live,' we are extremely determined in the fight against all kinds of addiction.

Our security forces and our judiciary are doing their duties properly as well. However, addiction, of whatever type, is such a scourge that security measures alone are not enough. For this, we must act together with a spirit of mobilization as a family, society, political parties, associations, foundations, universities, and especially the media, and put every resource at our disposal into action.

Undoubtedly, the main duty in the media falls to our public broadcaster, TRT, that is, to you, the TRT employees and management. We must examine and analyze the issue of addiction with a new understanding that goes beyond public service announcements, and we must address this problem with determination.

I expect our TRT to take the lead in informing and raising awareness among our citizens, and to produce original, high-quality, and effective projects that will set an example for the entire media. I always say this. A youth that is strong not only materially but also spiritually is our strongest fortress against such social maladies. When we say a youth that has ideals, vision, self-confidence, and is attached to its national and spiritual values, we are acting with this sensitivity. I hope and desire that the TRT Genç we have inaugurated will fill an important gap in this regard in particular.

Dear brothers and sisters, I must also underline this point here. Unfortunately, there is a segment in front of us and in our country that takes great pleasure in throwing stones at every good deed done. They do not want their habits to be broken or their mental comfort to be disturbed.

They love to pontificate from ivory towers and lecture this person or that. They never let press freedom, rights, law, and justice fall from their tongues. But when it comes to their own interests, they do not hesitate at all to trample on every principle, concept, and rule they defend.

Our TRT also gets its share from the angry attacks of these circles from time to time. We know that TRT's principled broadcasting policy, which appeals to 86 million, prioritizes our national and spiritual values, and tells the truth without bending or twisting it, seriously disturbs them. Look, we witnessed this once again in the latest water shortage problem in Ankara.

As you know, millions of our citizens living in Turkey's capital were condemned to waterlessness for weeks in the middle of winter. People stood in water queues in the middle of the night with canisters in their hands.

Families kept watch for hours at the tap or fountain to meet their most basic needs such as laundry, dishes, and bathing. Social media was full of the cries of our people trying to make their voices heard by the authorities, sharing the suffering they endured.

We all witnessed scenes that never befit the Turkey of 2026, sometimes with sadness and sometimes with shame on behalf of those responsible. In other words, there was news that could not be ignored by the media, whose duty is to keep watch on behalf of the public. Our press organizations that look out for the public interest also reported on this problem that made millions miserable.

They extended microphones to the citizens. They carried the complaints of our people waiting for water in the cold at night to the screens. So what happened? The increasing reaction of the media, politics, and citizens forced those who had ignored the people's screams for days to take action, at least in appearance. In the end, even if they could not fully solve the issue, they had to get up from their comfortable seats and make a statement to our people. However, like everything they do, they messed this up too.

One of them has come out. Instead of apologizing to our people whom they left without water in the middle of winter, they are blaming TRT for reporting the problem. They are blaming our Anadolu Agency. They are blaming private television channels. They are blaming the free press without blushing. The chairman of the same person, instead of admitting the management weakness, targets our person with expressions full of accusations and slander. There is a saying: 'the witness of the wine seller is the boza seller.' They are covering up each other's flaws. Now look. Dear brothers and sisters, we must ask this chorus of incompetents, who try to cover up their capacity gaps by blaming others, the following from here: Are those who put citizens in line with water canisters in the freezing night guilty? Or are those who report this guilty?

Is the fault with those who left our cities without water in the middle of winter, or with those who carried the citizens' suffering to the screen? The duty of the press is to audit administrators on behalf of the public, to extend a microphone to the public's complaints, and especially to give space to the citizens' problems on the screen. For God's sake, why are you bothered by this? Why are you blaming our press organizations for fulfilling their public duties? Why are you threatening journalists and why are you targeting them for doing their jobs? Instead of making excuses, blaming others, and wagging your fingers at the media, why don't you do your job properly? It's a pity. Believe me, it is a great pity for this nation. As we see their pathetic state, we feel sad on behalf of our cities. I believe that our citizens are also watching with concern how those who talk big about press freedom suddenly turn toward fascism. I leave them to the discernment of our noble nation.

No matter what they say. We will continue to stand by our press organizations that do their jobs with truthfulness, honesty, and fairness. We will continue our struggle for the truth on every front with our TRT, our Anadolu Agency, our Directorate of Communications, and all our other organizations. I wholeheartedly believe that with the projects that our TRT will implement, it will bring a new breath to the field of broadcasting that will make a sound in the world and will sign off on qualified works.