President Erdoğan speaks at his party's group meeting: 'No one should lecture us on compassion'

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at his party's group meeting.

Here are the highlights from Erdoğan's statements:

I commemorate with mercy the late Dr. Sadık Ahmet, the legendary leader of the Western Thrace Turks, who passed away 29 years ago today. The struggle of the late Sadık Ahmet has a very large share in the current achievements of the Western Thrace Turkish minority. In our meetings with Greek authorities, the problems of our kinsmen in Western Thrace are at the top of our agenda. We are constantly monitoring these issues. The same applies to the usurped rights of the Turkish Cypriot people.

The Turkish Cypriot people have been subjected to discrimination for three quarters of a century. Many of us remember the massacres between 1963 and 1974 as if they were yesterday. We can never forget the burned villages, the murdered children, and the tragedies of our Cypriot brothers and sisters. While all these atrocities were being committed, Western institutions and organizations did nothing. They watched from afar, just as they watch the Gaza genocide.

We are following all of Greece's steps and we intervene when necessary. From now on, we will continue to protect and support the Western Thrace Turkish Minority.

"OUR GOAL IS TO INCREASE THE RECOGNITION OF THE TRNC"

The Peace Operation was crowned with the declaration of the TRNC in 1983, but policies aimed at breaking the will for independence continued. While the TRNC, which said yes to the Annan Plan in 2004, was punished, the Greek Cypriot side, which said no, was rewarded by being made a full member of the EU. No results came from the negotiations either. We have seen that we cannot get anywhere with old methods. We, and the Turkish Cypriots, have had enough of federalism. We celebrated July 20th with great enthusiasm on Saturday. We once again declared to the whole world the importance we attach to the Cyprus cause. Our goal is to increase the recognition of the TRNC. We continue our support and investments so that the Turkish Cypriot people can stand on their own feet.

ERDOĞAN TO CHP: THEY HAVE STARTED TO ABANDON THE OLD POLITICS

We particularly value the fact that the opposition has started to abandon its old politics of complaining about Turkey to foreigners. The fluctuations that the CHP experienced in foreign policy during the term of the former chairman had reached dimensions that could not be explained by the concept of political competition. Some CHP deputies were acting as voluntary lawyers for the PKK's extensions in Syria. The CHP administration had also taken on the task of exonerating the perpetrators of the July 15th betrayal. I find it noteworthy in terms of the normalization of the opposition. I hope that the unity in Nicosia will be maintained consistently on national issues.

We are not seeking tension in our relations with our neighbors. We are looking to increase the number of our friends in our region and in the world. We are sincere and well-intentioned in this policy. We do not see any obstacle that cannot be overcome if we act within the framework of common interests and mutual respect. We have taken important steps in this direction in the last year. We have advanced our cooperation with many international organizations.

WE ARE OVERCOMING THE DIFFICULTIES IN THE ECONOMY

We are also overcoming our difficulties in the economy. We have started to see the positive results of the Medium-Term Program (OVP). Inflation will fall more noticeably from now on. The price bubble is slowly deflating in some sectors. We see that pricing approaches are becoming compatible with market realities. We will definitely bring year-end inflation down to the levels we targeted. Moody's raising our credit rating by 2 notches, a rating increase that came after 10 years, was a step that was too late for Turkey. Of course, these are not enough. As credit rating agencies act fairly, these ratings will rise to the levels we deserve. Let our nation keep its heart at ease. Turkey is on the right path. It is moving towards its goals with confident steps.

"THE OPPOSITION IS BEATING THE AIR"

Just as we brought inflation down to single digits before, I hope we will succeed again. There is no one else who can do this other than the AK Party and the People's Alliance. The opposition is beating the air. They resorted to the same hypocrisy during the election period as well. Remember 4-5 months ago. They were talking about making water cheaper, now they are raising prices by 400-500 percent.

IF YOU WANT TO BE OF BENEFIT TO RETIREES

They don't even let our retirees approach their doors. The election is over, the promises made have been shelved. Our citizens have been dragged back into the vortex of corruption and theft of CHP municipalities. They think dancing and waltzing is municipalism. Ideological bigotry flows from their pant legs. I would like to say this to the CHP Chairman. Honest politics requires standing behind one's words. You cannot hide the embarrassment of the promises you did not keep by making bigger promises. If you have the power, tell your mayors. Let them lower the prices of the services they promised to provide for free and then raised 3-4 times in 3 months. If you want to be of benefit to retirees, let your municipalities pay their accumulated debts to the Social Security Institution (SGK). Our Ministry of Treasury and Finance will now begin to collect these debts at the source from the municipalities.

RETIREE SALARY STATEMENT

My farmer, producer, industrialist, and worker are undoubtedly worthy of the best. In particular, we cannot repay the rights of our retirees who have spent the best years of their lives serving their families and their country. We see standing by our retirees as our primary duty. We have taken many steps in the last 21 years to improve the quality of life of our retirees. Before us, retiree salaries were below human standards. In November 2002, the lowest retiree pension was 66 liras. That is, 43 dollars. During this period, the minimum wage was applied as 184 liras. This was 122 dollars. A significant portion of our retirees were receiving one-third of the minimum wage as a monthly salary. We have increased the lowest retiree pension to 12 thousand 500 liras, that is, 380 dollars.

We have increased it by 257 percent in the last 2 years. We increased salaries by 49.3 percent in January of this year, and we gave a 24.7 percent raise to salaries and a 19.3 percent raise to the Retirement Fund in July. In 2024, we went for an increase of 78-86 percent in retiree salaries. This increase is well above the inflation expectation. We started the holiday bonus payments for retirees. Another opportunity is the bank promotion. Under the leadership of our public banks, we ensured that the promotions paid to retirees were increased. They are receiving 8-12 thousand liras in promotions. Along with all these, our Ministry of Labor provides many opportunities in different areas within the scope of the 'Year of Retirees'. We will do much more. As the bill for the earthquake decreases and the policies we implement in the economy yield results, we will put the additional resources at the disposal of our people, especially our retirees.

NO ONE SHOULD LECTURE US ON COMPASSION

Even if some insist on ignoring it, there is a stray dog problem in Turkey. We are facing a stray dog population that you cannot see in any civilized country in the world. These dogs attack children, the elderly, and other animals, and cause traffic accidents. The problem grows even bigger as it is not intervened in. Our nation wants us to solve this problem. It is unthinkable for us to remain silent and unresponsive to these requests. No one should try to lecture us on compassion regarding animals. Those who do not speak out against the separatist terrorist organization murdering a baby in its cradle or the innocent children being murdered in Gaza should not come and talk to us about compassion. Those who compose praises for the blood-stained murderer herds on the mountains, excuse me, but they cannot preach to us about conscience and compassion.

The last word that a person of poor character, who walked over a mother carrying the pain of her daughter in her heart at the commission, should take into their mouth is compassion. Both the one who shouts 'murderer' at a deputy under the roof of the supreme Parliament and the one who brings them there and gives them that courage have shown disrespect and impudence towards the nation.