President Erdoğan announces decisions made at cabinet meeting

Here are the highlights from Erdoğan's statement:

Thanks to both the quality of our roads and the measures taken by our security units, we have gotten through this year with fewer accidents compared to previous years. During the 9-day holiday, more than 941 thousand vehicles passed through the Osmangazi Bridge, and 2 million 213 thousand passengers traveled through Istanbul Airport. Our Antalya airport reached its highest figure of 2024 on Sunday. 1 million people traveled via YHT (High-Speed Train).

We were all shaken by the cable car tragedy that occurred on the 3rd day of the holiday.

"THE OPPOSITION'S EFFORT TO PROTECT THOSE RESPONSIBLE DID NOT GO UNNOTICED"

I would like to thank each of the 2,200 personnel who carried out the rescue efforts with great diligence. All 174 people were rescued. The individuals responsible for the incident are being tried. 5 people have been arrested, and judicial control conditions have been imposed on 8 suspects. The opposition's effort to protect those responsible did not go unnoticed.

The main opposition's attempt to dilute the incident from the very first moment did not go unnoticed. The same lack of conscience was displayed during the fire tragedy in Beşiktaş. No one can shield those responsible from the judiciary by putting forward their political identity.

Those who rushed to Van in the name of rights, law, and justice did not take a single step for those who lost their lives at the workplace in Beşiktaş.

No one can shield those responsible from justice. We will do our part to ensure that the perpetrators in both Antalya and Beşiktaş are held accountable before the judiciary. We will intensify our measures and inspections to ensure that similar tragedies do not happen again. I offer my condolences to the citizens who lost their lives.

LOCAL ELECTIONS

We have completed the March 31 local administration elections marathon with composure. I congratulate the public officials and political parties who contributed to this picture of success. I wish success to the newly elected mayors. We will comprehensively evaluate the election results in all their aspects at tomorrow's group meeting. The March 31 elections have gone down in our history as the 18th festival of democracy in the last 20 years. The first winner of the elections is the ballot box.

It has been understood with March 31 that the "last election" propaganda, which has been put into circulation before every election without exception for some time, is nothing but a fallacy.

Despite all the negative campaigns, Turkey has successfully conducted another election with a maturity that will be an example to the world. The March 31 elections have gone down in our political history as the "18th festival of democracy" in the last 22 years.

The first winner of the March 31 elections is the ballot box, the honor and reputation of the ballot box.

Turkish democracy, which has indisputably proven its maturity, strength, and competence once again, is the biggest winner of this election process.

We see this as a valuable gain on behalf of our country, our nation, and future generations. We hope that the opposition will now learn the necessary lessons from this and will no longer hide behind such baseless, simple arguments that do more harm than good to our democracy.

As the government and the political institution, we will continue to raise the standards of our democracy in the future, just as we have for the last 21 years.

"THE RETURN TO THE PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM HAS BEEN CLOSED"

Today is the April 16 referendum, the 7th anniversary of which we are observing. Turkey has put an end to a debate of nearly 200 years and has not abandoned the presidential government system.

Discussions on returning to the parliamentary system have been closed by our nation.

The back-and-forth throughout election history is now a reason to put an end to the real issues. We need to focus on our urgent problems. The global economic crisis that started with COVID is still ongoing. Everyone is experiencing serious difficulties in terms of production, employment, investment, and controlling inflation. As Turkey, we are feeling the reflections of these negativities. While managing regional crises on one hand, we are strictly adhering to our roadmap in the economy on the other.

We have started to see the positive results of the MTP (Medium-Term Program). I believe that our growth rate will approach 4 percent by the end of the year. We know the difficulties that inflation causes for the wage-earning segment. Instead of saving the day, we aim for permanent prosperity growth by lowering inflation. We have fulfilled our responsibility to our nation by not implementing election economics.

We have 3 main priorities in strengthening the Medium-Term Program;

-Increasing savings in the public sector,

-Prioritizing investments,

-Accelerating structural reforms,

"TURKEY IS THE COUNTRY THAT PROVIDES THE MOST HUMANITARIAN AID TO GAZA"

Turkey has solidified its position as the country providing the most humanitarian aid to Gaza with the 9th ship of kindness, which set sail today with 3,774 tons of aid. Turkey is the country that led the export restrictions to Israel after October 7. Despite this, our government has been subjected to unfair accusations. We will not forget those who slandered Turkey regarding jet fuel. Long before the massacres, Turkey did not allow the sale of any material that could be used in war to Israel.

ISRAEL'S DAMASCUS ATTACK

Since October 7, Israel has been taking provocative steps to spread the fire to the region. Israel's targeting of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus was the final straw.

It is clear that as long as the oppression and genocide in Gaza do not stop, our region is pregnant with new tensions. Everyone with a sense of responsibility must now raise their voice even more.