Erdoğan's take on brain drain: Young people who left want to return

AKP President Erdoğan attended a 'Meeting with Youth' program during his visit to Erzurum.

Speaking about young people who have gone abroad, Erdoğan said, "Young people, do not pay attention to those who dislike their country and glorify living abroad. You must say, 'I am here.' The images circulated on social media with malicious intent, claiming 'Turkey lost a doctor, engineer, or artist, and such-and-such country gained one,' do not turn out to be as they are portrayed at all."

"WITH THIS CONDITION..."

Claiming that young people who have left want to return, Erdoğan said, "Provided that they have not been involved in terrorism in any way, the doors of this country and the hearts of our nation are wide open to all their children. We do not have a single person, a single young person, to sacrifice for no reason," he stated.

"I WILL VISIT ETHIOPIA AND SOMALIA IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 2025"

In response to a young person's question, "An agreement was signed between Somalia and Ethiopia. What role did Turkey play in the background of this?" Erdoğan replied:

"The trouble between Somalia and Ethiopia had truly been going on for many years. Ethiopia is twice the size of Somalia, a massive place, but it is landlocked. You cannot reach the sea from Ethiopia. It really bothers them significantly that a place with such a large, vast territory is landlocked. Many countries have stepped in on this issue to date, but they have not been able to solve it.

Because of the special rapport the Ethiopian Prime Minister has with me, we discussed and talked about these things with him. We became a country that embraced Somalia during its most critical period, and we naturally embraced Somalia during the time when terrorist organizations were pressuring it. We had investments there. Along with those investments, we also took steps against terrorist organizations in Somalia. Now, regarding Ethiopia's new rise, we said, 'We will give you all kinds of support.' We provided them with all the support we could in the economy and defense.

In our meeting that evening, in the discussions we had with them, thank goodness they did not turn us down, and we came together as one Prime Minister and two Presidents and said on this matter, 'You will not turn us down.' After a meeting that lasted 7 hours, thank goodness we initialed the documents and finished the job. After that, we moved to our press conference hall and announced this to the world from there. I also told them, 'God willing, I will visit Ethiopia and Somalia in the first two months of next year, and we will announce this step we have taken to the world.'

We announced our decision in this way. Thank goodness they also carried this step we took to their own countries, and are continuing to do so. We have announced a beautiful future to Africa in this way, we have announced it to the whole world. The whole world shared the pride of this step we took and the result we achieved with us. When you are sincere and your intentions are pure, everything happens."