Breaking News... Erdoğan speaks at AKP group meeting: Addresses MPs regarding the commission

The AKP held its parliamentary group meeting.

AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements regarding the agenda during the meeting.

Erdoğan began his speech by mentioning the military cargo plane that crashed, stating, "I once again pray for God's mercy upon our soldiers and our firefighting plane pilot whom we bid farewell to the afterlife with tears last week, and I extend my condolences to their families. Investigations into the plane crash are being conducted meticulously. The information obtained by the expert team will be shared with the public," he said.

Erdoğan's statements are as follows:

'Distinguished deputies, my dear fellow travelers and comrades, esteemed guests; I greet you all with my most sincere feelings, respect, and affection at this AKP group meeting. From here, through you, I also send my greetings to all our citizens in our 81 provinces and 922 districts.

Furthermore, as the poet said: “Friends, we may not have greeted each other even once, but we can die for the same bread, the same freedom, and the same longing.” I accept these meaningful words as an opportunity to convey my respect and love to all our kinsmen and brothers and sisters whose hearts and minds are with us, from Africa to Asia, from the Balkans to the Caucasus, and from the Turkic world to the Islamic world.'

'At the very beginning of my speech, I once again commemorate with mercy our 20 heroic soldiers and our firefighting plane pilot whom we bid farewell to the afterlife with prayers and tears last week. We pray to God for patience and condolences to the families and relatives of our martyrs.

As I stated in my address after the Cabinet meeting, investigations to determine the cause of our plane's crash are being carried out meticulously and in a multifaceted manner. The information that our expert teams will reach as a result of their evaluations will be shared with the public by our Ministry of National Defense.'

BÖCEK FAMILY INVESTIGATION

'I pray for God's mercy upon my 7 worker brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the fire disaster that occurred in Dilovası, Kocaeli, on November 8, and I wish patience to those they left behind. The investigation regarding the death of our 4 expatriates in Istanbul, two of whom were children, is also being conducted with great sensitivity. Whoever has a fault, error, or intent in both incidents where we lost 11 lives will be identified one by one, and no one will be spared.'

'Dear friends, since our last meeting, the Turkish Statistical Institute has announced some current data regarding our economy. I would like to share a few of these with you and my dear nation.

According to the seasonally adjusted figures for the third quarter of 2025, our unemployment rate stood at 8.5 percent. In the same period, our labor force reached 35 million 568 thousand, and our employment reached 32 million 558 thousand. Thus, our unemployment rate has continued to remain in the single digits for the last 29 months.

We have begun to reap the fruits of the economic policies we have implemented on the axis of investment, employment, production, exports, and sustainable growth. In the field of tourism, we are expected to break new records this year in both the number of visitors and tourism revenues. In exports, we continue to add value to our country by maintaining our strong performance.'

'WE BROKE THE RECORD IN REPUBLICAN HISTORY'

'We have increased our goods exports in 22 of the last 30 months. In July, we broke the record in the history of the Republic with 24 billion 911 million dollars. In October 2025, our exports were realized at 24 billion dollars with an increase of 2.3 percent. As of October 2025, our annualized exports reached the highest level in history with 270.2 billion dollars.

In the first 9 months of the year, our service exports reached 91.9 billion dollars, and our service trade surplus reached 48.8 billion dollars. We aim to increase our goods and services exports, which are 379 billion dollars, to 390 billion dollars by the end of 2025. We estimate that this level has been exceeded as of September. I wish these developments, which make us all happy as a nation, to be auspicious.

While these evaluations continue as of September, we will hopefully continue to support our exporters, who are the vanguard of the Turkish economy, in every field.'

'In the coming period, we will further intensify our consultations with our real sector, especially our industrialists and SMEs. We will listen to the demands of our business world, our tradesmen, our merchants, and our producers, and we will meet more frequently with these segments that form the backbone of the economy.

I would also like to specifically state that we have achieved these successes despite the hot conflicts in our region and the trade wars waged through customs tariffs. I congratulate our exporter organizations, our business people, our workers, our relevant ministries, and our bureaucrats once again for their efforts, and I offer them my thanks on behalf of my country and my nation. We always tell our nation: “We will not produce empty talk; we will produce work and works.” Thank God, we always stand behind this promise.'

HARSH REACTION TO THE MAIN OPPOSITION

'Most recently, in Adıyaman, we delivered the keys of the 350 thousandth disaster house to our rightful brothers and sisters. Thus, we have completed 78 percent of our total housing. In 3,481 construction sites, 200 thousand of our architects, engineers, and worker brothers and sisters are working 24/7, day and night, to reunite our earthquake victims with their new homes. Everyone knows very well what these figures mean for those who are experts in the field.

My dear brothers and sisters, I especially want to emphasize this difference: The CHP Chairman and his companions produce only lies and polemics in the name of politics; we, on the other hand, build 23 new houses in 2 hours and 550 in a day.

While we, as the government and the alliance, work day and night to serve the country and the nation and to solve problems, the main opposition front continues to pursue their own interests, personal ambitions, and calculations.'

With the Terror-Free Turkey process, we will permanently save our country from a half-century-old shackle, a great scourge. The commission has done very valuable work so far. A Terror-Free Turkey is progressing meticulously. I wholeheartedly believe that the commission will make the most correct and accurate decision for Turkey's future."

PROCESS EXPLANATION

My dear fellow deputies, I say all this for this reason as well. As Turkey puts its own house in order, strengthens its internal peace and tranquility, and fortifies and reinforces its internal front, it has also gained strength, reputation, and influence abroad.

As we secured the interior, we acted more comfortably abroad. As we solved our chronic problems at home, we improved our problem-solving ability abroad. Thus, in a short period of 23 years, we have made Turkey the shining star of its region. Now we are on the threshold of a greater breakthrough, a greater rise. With the Terror-Free Turkey process, we will hopefully save our country permanently and definitively from a half-century-old shackle, a great scourge that drains its blood, life, resources, and energy.

Whatever we do, we do it for this. We are planning the steps we will take with great meticulousness. We act with the awareness that we carry the responsibility and sacred trust of 86 million on our shoulders. As the AK Party and the People's Alliance, we are engaged in this sincere effort, this sincere endeavor.

In the Terror-Free Turkey process, thank God, we have made very positive, hopeful, and encouraging progress so far.

Especially with the establishment of the National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission under the roof of our Grand Assembly with very broad participation, the process has both gained a social dimension and caught a very different momentum.

Until today, all participants representing our nation, from the business world to Human Rights organizations, from members of the Academy to unions, from our retired soldiers to Martyrs' and Veterans' Associations, have been heard by the commission.

Their views and suggestions were carefully noted. Despite the insolence and indecency he was subjected to, our Speaker of the Parliament successfully presided over all these valuable works of the commission.

The DEM Party delegation and group were likewise in a very sensible attitude.

Our People's Alliance partner, Nationalist Movement Party Chairman Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, also made unique contributions to the process reaching these days with his courageous, horizon-opening, and guiding statements from the very first day.

We, both as the government and as the party, acted as guides to the process by walking on an extremely sensitive line. We never refrained from doing what was necessary within the framework of our responsibility and the law. Of course, we overcame many known and unknown troubles during this period. We averted many sabotages. We untied many knots. My dear brothers and sisters, along with all of this

As you know, our commission held its 17th meeting yesterday. Our Minister of National Defense, our Minister of Interior, and our MIT President informed the commission and our deputies in detail about the latest stage reached.

Issues deemed beneficial for the safety of the process were shared with the commission members with an open heart.

I find it extremely valuable that the commission works in unity of ideas and goals, in defiance of those who tie all their future to the failure of the process.

I appreciate the contributions the commission has made to our country's democracy, our unity and solidarity, and the strengthening of dialogue and empathy between different segments of our society, along with the Terror-Free Turkey process.

I congratulate our Speaker of the Parliament and our commission members from the bottom of my heart. In light of yesterday's evaluations, it is understood that it has been decided to hold the next meeting on Friday.

I believe that the commission will continue the process from now on, including the next session, on the basis of the same constructive, sensible, and especially conciliatory understanding.

We are all aware of this fact once and for all. The time has long since come for Turkey to be completely rid of the scourge of terrorism, which has turned into a great calamity on its back. We need to crown the struggle waged, the prices paid, and the suffering endured with a Terror-Free Turkey. The responsibility for this lies, above all else, on the shoulders of you, my fellow deputies, who serve under this grand roof representing 86 million people. In building a strong Turkey that has healed the wounds opened by terrorism with the ointment of brotherhood, very important duties fall upon all of us, every single deputy in the parliament, and all political parties that carry a sense of responsibility towards the nation, to shape the future not only of our country but also of our region, and to root the climate of peace, prosperity, and tranquility.

As the AK Party and the People's Alliance, we want to bring this process, which we have handled on a ground above politics from the very beginning, to its destination with ease.

The expectations of our nation from us...

We will be in a solution-oriented approach on the issues that come before us. My sincere wish is that all parties and members in the commission will show the same responsible and sensitive behavior as we do and adopt a more constructive attitude.

I wholeheartedly believe that the commission will make the most correct and accurate decision for Turkey, for Turkey's secure future, and for the unity and solidarity of our nation. I have no doubt that by joining hands, 86 million people will raise our flag of unity and solidarity together, and we will sooner or later reach our goals of a Terror-Free Turkey and then a Terror-Free region. As a final word, I would like to express this with all my sincerity. We are a cadre that sees the interests of our country and our nation above all kinds of interests. For a quarter of a century, we have always said 'my nation first, my country first.' For this country, there were times we put our hands, and times we put our entire bodies under the stone. We are acting with the same self-confidence and love for the nation and the country in the Terror-Free Turkey process as well. As a party and an alliance, we have a single goal. That is to remove this bloody dagger stuck in the bosom of our nation forever. We are closer to this than we have ever been before. With God's permission and our nation's prayers, we will achieve this.

News Source: 12punto