President Erdoğan announces new credit package: Favorable terms

AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements following the Cabinet Meeting.

Here are the highlights from Erdoğan's statements:

Dear friends, when we took office, we stated that we would develop our country in every field, make our homeland safer, more peaceful, more prosperous, and more developed, and increase Turkey's reputation in the international arena. We promised that no matter what position we hold, we would run with passion for Turkey without making any distinctions.

Thank God, we have remained loyal to our commitment to our nation for 23 years. We serve every single member of our 86 million people. We run with passion, saying, "those who run with passion do not get tired."

We are not like the main opposition party, which says "We are on duty, Ataturk" but takes leave all year round and enjoys themselves. We are in a sincere effort to revive Turkey with the same excitement as the first day. We have continued our work since our last Cabinet Meeting. Before moving on to the decisions taken at today's meeting, I would like to share this work with you.

"WE ARE CLOSELY MONITORING SYRIA AND IRAN"

Since our last cabinet meeting, we have continued our work on the path of serving the nation and the country with great enthusiasm. While closely following critical developments in the context of Syria and Iran in foreign policy, we continue our policy of works at home without slowing down.

We presented the Ministry of Culture and Tourism special awards and the Living Human Treasures awards to their recipients. I congratulate our award-winning master craftsmen and our three institutions, who carry our cultural and artistic heritage to the future with the distinguished works they have produced, once again on behalf of myself and my nation.

On January 24, we were guests in the Efeler district of Aydın to carry out our mass openings and to perform the key delivery and lottery ceremonies for our new residences. We embraced our brothers and sisters in Aydın.

CITY HOSPITAL FOR AYDIN

We cut the ribbon of our Aydın City Hospital, which suits the pearl of the Aegean very, very well, and offered it to the service of our citizens in Aydın. Our 1,300-bed hospital, which will also operate as an education and research hospital, has 465 polyclinics and 34 operating rooms.

We rank second in the list of the world's 250 largest international contracting firms with 45 Turkish firms.

We hosted Nigerian President Mr. Tinubu and his delegation at our Presidential Complex. Our relations with the African continent, the rising star of the 21st century, are strengthening in every field. We have increased the number of our embassies on the continent to 44. Our goal is 50. Today, 38 African countries have embassies operating in Ankara.

The Turkic world, which has reached a population of 300 million, an area of 4.5 million square kilometers, and an economic volume of 2 trillion dollars, represents a very serious power and potential. We are trying to utilize this enormous potential in the best way possible with the projects we have implemented under the umbrella of the Organization of Turkic States.

We will host the 13th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Turkey in 2026. The visit of Uzbek President Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev on January 29 was also meaningful in this respect.

We held the fourth meeting of our strong strategic cooperation council together with my brother Shavkat and signed 10 new agreements. We have tripled our bilateral trade volume with Uzbekistan in the last 10 years. Hopefully, we will soon reach our new target of 5 billion dollars.

68 BILLION DOLLAR TOURISM TARGET

Our goal in 2026 is to achieve 68 billion dollars in tourism revenue. Hopefully, we will set a new record by reaching this goal.

I want every one of my citizens, especially our business world, to know this very well: As the government, we stand by those who produce, export, and provide employment. We continue to strongly support our manufacturing industry.

NEW CREDIT PACKAGE

Now, I would like to share with you a new piece of good news that will alleviate the difficulties our manufacturing industry enterprises face in accessing finance. We are launching a financing package of 100 billion liras, open to all manufacturing industry enterprises, with favorable terms.

In this package, which will offer a maturity of up to 36 months with a 6-month principal grace period, financing cost rates will be below market conditions. May our new credit package be auspicious.

"SYRIAN PEOPLE MUST LIVE IN PEACE"

For years, opposition circles could never understand why Turkey is so closely interested in Syria. They called it the "Middle East quagmire." They said, "What is Syria to us?" They did not want to see or accept the reality that the security of Syria and Turkey are intertwined.

Those who could not read the developments in Syria correctly for 12.5 years unfortunately continue to pursue policies and produce rhetoric on the same line today. They are not even aware of who is who and what is happening in this country. We have witnessed this once again in the last three weeks.

Those who look at the events in Syria with ideological prejudice, especially the main opposition party, have failed again. They scored zero again in this test of brotherhood.

They failed once again by targeting the legitimate rulers of Syria, by polarizing people, and by calculating political gain over this issue.

While Turkey is providing all kinds of humanitarian aid in close cooperation with the Syrian administration; while it is doing its best to reduce tension, prevent conflict, and ensure reconciliation, they objected to our country with extremely harsh expressions.

I find it useful for this to be known once and for all: We are in favor of peace, tranquility, stability, reconciliation, and social peace in every part of our region. If there is a fire, conflict, or war beyond our borders, we know very well that it is impossible for us to feel safe here.

As Turkey, we sincerely desire our neighbor Syria to establish its internal peace as soon as possible. We want to see a neighbor that is not constantly struggling with instability right next to us, but one where all segments of the Syrian people—regardless of whether they are Arab, Kurd, Turkmen, Nusayri, or Christian—live in peace, well-being, and tranquility.

"IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT THE PROBLEM IS SOLVED WITHOUT BLOODSHED"

Our struggle is aimed at ensuring this first in Syria and then in other conflict zones. Every step that contributes to peace and stability in Syria and guarantees the territorial integrity and political unity of Syria is reasonable and acceptable to us.

It is extremely important that the problem in northern Syria is solved without bloodshed, on the basis of a single army, a single state, and a single Syria. We evaluate the agreements reached between the Syrian government and the structure called the SDF on January 18 and January 30 from this perspective.

With the latest agreements, a new page has now been turned before the Syrian people. Our wish is that this new page is written not with conflict and tension, but with peace, tranquility, development, and prosperity.

Whoever attempts to dynamite this process, whoever targets this process, will be crushed under it. Those who hope for help from terrorism and resort to terrorism, whether today or in the future, for whatever reason, must know that they will not achieve any results in any way. We hope that the agreement will be implemented in accordance with its spirit, without resorting to cheap calculations such as stalling, foot-dragging, or procrastination.