President Erdoğan closes the door on 'elections', sends message that there is no energy problem

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

Here are the highlights from Erdoğan's statements:

Turkey is moving forward with confident steps toward its goal without getting caught up in artificial agendas through the futile efforts of the main opposition. Our government is in control of its agenda. No one can impose an agenda on us. No one can divert or infect Turkey's agenda with artificial debates. I want it to be known that neither our government nor our nation has early or by-elections in their political coordinates for the near term.

We are struggling to increase our country's reputation on both national and international scales. We are looking ahead; we are looking to make Turkey a global player with its strong, large economy. We have continued our marathon of works and services in a wide range of areas from technology to transportation, and from communication to agriculture.

"THE ECONOMY IS FACING ONE OF THE HEAVIEST SHOCKS IN RECENT HISTORY"

We see today that our investments, which the opposition disparaged by calling them waste and asking 'what is the need for them,' put us in a very advantageous position in global competition. With the start of the attacks on Iran, the global economy is facing one of the heaviest shocks in recent history. The Strait of Hormuz has effectively closed.

Hormuz is a critical line through which 20 percent of the world's oil and a very significant portion of natural gas are transported. The issue is not just energy; many critical products such as petrochemical products, fertilizers, pharmaceutical raw materials, and helium also pass through this strait. The closure of Hormuz is deeply shaking the global economy in energy, agriculture, industry, and technology. For example, Europe's fossil fuel bill has ballooned by 17 billion dollars in the last 30 days. Natural gas prices have recorded an increase of 100 percent, and oil by 60 percent.

"WE HAVE NO PROBLEMS REGARDING ENERGY SUPPLY SECURITY, PROCUREMENT, AND STORAGE"

When we look at the world, we see that, just as in the pandemic period, quotas have been imposed on fuel in some countries, schools have been closed on certain days, and the restriction of public services is being discussed. Thank God, Turkey is outside this gloomy picture. We have no problems regarding energy supply security, procurement, and storage. Turkey does not have LNG procurement passing through Basra and Hormuz. Although 10 percent of our oil and imports come from there, these are areas we can easily manage.

"WE WILL NOT EXPERIENCE ANY PROBLEMS IN FOOD SUPPLY SECURITY"

The value of our resource diversification policy is being understood in these days. We had made our fertilizer and raw material procurements long ago. Since the war began, we have reduced customs duties to zero for the supply of urea fertilizer. We have zeroed out customs duties on some types of fertilizers. In addition, we have stopped the transit and re-export of urea fertilizer located in warehouses through Turkey to foreign countries. We have no shortages in agricultural production inputs such as fertilizer. Thanks to the measures we have taken, I hope we will not experience any problems in food supply security either. Our inspections regarding war profiteers are continuing intensively.

"WE HAVE CREATED A PROTECTIVE SHIELD FOR OUR CITIZENS AGAINST THE SHARP INCREASE IN GLOBAL OIL PRICES"

The reserves we have accumulated for use in times of need are likewise sufficient and strong. The ratio of our external debt and total external financing requirement to national income is below historical averages. We are in a much more solid position in basic indicators, from the external balance to budget discipline, and from Central Bank reserves to the banking sector, compared to external shocks encountered in the past. We are striving to limit the negative effects of the crisis on the economy and the market with a proactive approach. We put the sliding scale system into effect 5 days after the start of the war. We created a protective shield for our citizens against the sharp increase in global oil prices. An increase of nearly 17 liras in diesel and 12 liras in gasoline was not reflected at the pump. The additional cost, which has reached a total of 50 billion liras so far, has been subsidized by our state thanks to the sliding scale.

"WE AIM TO PROTECT THE CASH FLOW OF THE REAL SECTOR"

Of course, we are not saying everything is perfect. We are undoubtedly affected by the reflections of the war in our region on global trade in terms of exports. We are protecting our businesses that keep production, exports, and tourism alive with strong support, and we are helping them get through this stormy period. We shared a new package with our public over the weekend. We have put a new credit facility into effect in tourism with the guarantee support of our Ministry of Treasury and Finance. The total size of this credit is 120 billion liras. We have granted a limit of 60 billion liras to tourism operators, 42 billion liras to exporters, and an additional 12 billion liras in the field of participation finance. We aim to protect the cash flow of the real sector.

"OUR CITIZENS SHOULD NOT WORRY"

There is no compromise in our disinflation program. Protecting employment, production, and exports will continue to be our priority in this process as well. Our citizens should not worry, and our business world should be at ease. Turkey is a candidate to be one of the natural centers of attraction of the new era with its strategic geography, strong and modern infrastructure, and the Istanbul Finance Center. We saw the signs of this personally in our meeting with the world's leading companies. We have already started to receive signals of this abroad.

Even in foreign media outlets known for their hostility toward our country, news is being written that Turkey will be a rising star. Our economic staff is currently positioning Turkey strongly as a regional management center for multinational companies. We sincerely believe that this global crisis, just like the pandemic period, will open new doors for our country. Turkey entered April with the pride of meeting 5G technology. We started the preparations for 5G 10 years ago in 2016, and we conducted our first tests in 2018. After 2019, we opened it for use as a pilot application in our Grand National Assembly, our stadiums, and large-scale organizations.

"WE HAVE OPENED 1 MILLION 190 THOUSAND LANDS FOR IRRIGATION"

We have equipped every corner of Turkey with 5G infrastructure. We will hopefully offer the 5G service, which we have put into service in our 81 provincial centers, to every inch of our country within 2 years. I wish the 5G technology, which will open new windows of opportunity in many fields from transportation, health, agriculture, production, and economy to education, to be auspicious. We have brought 563 new facilities, including 54 dams and ponds and 1089 irrigation facilities, into our economy. We have opened 1 million 190 thousand lands for irrigation. The facilities we have completed will contribute 22 billion liras annually to our economy with current figures.

News Source: 12punto