Erdoğan made important statements following the cabinet meeting:
Here are the highlights from the statements:
"I wish God's mercy upon our 11 citizens who lost their lives in the tragic traffic accident that occurred in Akhisar, Manisa yesterday, and I extend my condolences to their families and loved ones. Out of our 26 injured citizens, 13 have been discharged, and the treatment of 13 of our brothers and sisters, two of whom are in intensive care, is still ongoing. I wish them a speedy recovery. I pray that God does not make our nation experience such pain again. My dear citizens, we have just completed the 73rd meeting of our cabinet. In today's cabinet meeting, we consulted on important issues on the agenda of our country and our nation. We made comprehensive evaluations regarding the developments in our region that also affect us. The current situation regarding working life, social policies, and the fund issue that has occupied the country's agenda in recent days were the topics of our cabinet. Before moving on to the decisions taken in our cabinet, I would like to briefly remind you of what we have done in the service of our nation in the last two weeks. My dear brothers and sisters, I attended the opening of the 5th legislative year of the 28th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on October 1 and addressed the general assembly.
“I HOPE LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES WILL BE CONDUCTED WITH MATURITY”
I hope that the legislative activities to be carried out under the roof of our Assembly will be conducted with democratic maturity, without resorting to the crudeness we witnessed on the first day. On October 3, we were the guests of our brothers and sisters in Şanlıurfa. We shared the excitement of our youth at Teknofest Southeast, which was organized with a record participation this year. We also held the opening of our completed Şanlıurfa City Hospital.
There, we saw once again that Turkey's future is rising in the hands of our youth who think, research, produce, and develop their own technology. I congratulate our young people who received awards and ranked, and I thank everyone who contributed to the successful organization of this great technology festival in glorious Urfa. On the same day, we opened the Şanlıurfa City Hospital, which has an investment value of 39 billion liras, along with its connecting roads. We have brought to our city a modern health facility that will provide first-class health services to the people of Şanlıurfa with its 500 thousand square meters of indoor area, 2000 bed capacity, 451 polyclinic rooms, 6 operating theaters, and other units.
"WE ARE MAKING INTENSE EFFORTS"
I wish our Şanlıurfa City Hospital and our other investments to be beneficial. I convey my congratulations to all our institutions. My dear nation, on October 7, we participated in the opening of the 77th International Astronautical Congress, which Turkey hosted for the first time. We came together with experts in their fields from 111 countries at the congress held in Antalya. As Turkey, we are making intense efforts to show a stronger presence in space and to develop our own technology. The production, assembly, and integration stages of the vehicle we developed within the scope of the lunar research program have been completed. The system-level environmental tests of our 3.5-ton vehicle, which has a localization rate of over 80%, are ongoing. On October 6, we held the opening of the 2026-2027 academic year with a ceremony held at our Presidential Complex. At the same program, we presented the Council of Higher Education 2026 Excellence Awards to their recipients. I wish the new academic year to be beneficial for our students, academics, and our higher education community, and I congratulate the award-winning names."
HALKALI-KAPIKULE HIGH-SPEED TRAIN
On Friday, we were in Babaeski to open the Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section of our Halkalı-Kapıkule High-Speed Train Line. We have completed the 153-kilometer Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section, which is the longest stage of our high-speed train line with a total length of 229 kilometers. When all stages of the project are completed, the travel time between Halkalı and Kapıkule will decrease from 4 hours to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Freight transport time will drop from 8.5 hours to 3.5 hours. Our annual passenger capacity will increase from 600 thousand to 3 million, and our freight capacity will rise from 1.5 million tons to 9.5 million tons. I congratulate those who contributed. I wish the Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section of the Halkalı-Kapıkule High-Speed Train Line, which we opened, to be beneficial.
"IGNORING THE EARTHQUAKE AGENDA WOULD BE TREACHERY"
On October 10, we came together with the distinguished members of our İlim Yayma Society, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. We appreciate the work of our society, which has made significant contributions to our country in the fields of education and civil society for three-quarters of a century. Raising young people who are attached to their roots, know their values, embrace the knowledge of the age, and carry responsibility towards their country is a matter of great effort and sacrifice. I heartily congratulate the İlim Yayma family for these sincere efforts and pray to God for their success in their work.
My dear nation, four days ago, five of our citizens lost their lives in a building that collapsed in Maltepe, Istanbul. I wish God's mercy upon our brothers and sisters who passed away, patience to their families, and a speedy recovery to our injured. My condolences to our nation. This painful event in Maltepe has once again shown how vital the issue of urban transformation in Istanbul is. Postponing, ignoring, or sacrificing the reality of an earthquake in Istanbul to daily political squabbles would be treachery to Istanbul.
Therefore, no one has the right to play with the lives of our people, and they cannot. You look, they live in villas, in luxurious and safe gated communities. But when it comes to renewing Istanbul's building stock, these are the ones who talk the most. These are the ones whose voices are heard the most. These are the ones who make the most noise. It is time to put an end to this hypocrisy.
As the government, we are determined to accelerate our urban transformation mobilization despite the indifference displayed at the local government level. We see Istanbul, the trust of our party, as the capital of this urban transformation mobilization. We have carried out one out of every three urban transformations in Turkey in Istanbul. Since 2012, we have included 1 million 298 thousand independent units in Istanbul in the scope of transformation. We have completed the transformation of 1 million 7 thousand independent units. The transformation of 291 thousand independent units is still ongoing. We have provided safe homes for nearly 5 million of our citizens.
"HALF IS ON US" CAMPAIGN EXTENDED
We have taken every step to encourage our citizens for urban transformation. We launched our "Half is On Us" campaign, specific to Istanbul. With "Half is On Us," we have included 544 thousand 564 independent units in the scope of transformation to date. We have extended the duration of the campaign until December 31, 2027, so that more of our citizens can benefit from this opportunity.
I am calling out to my brothers and sisters in Istanbul once again from here. Please do not postpone the steps to be taken regarding urban transformation. Take action today to reach an agreement with your neighbors, start the necessary procedures, and obtain a safe home. I also want to underline this: While our government is putting its shoulder to the wheel for the transformation of Istanbul with all its means, we expect all our municipalities, regardless of political party, to show the same understanding, the same effort, and the same sensitivity. I call on responsible mayors who truly love their city and district to focus on urban transformation projects.
My dear citizens, unfortunately, new ones are added to the conflict zones in our region every day. Tension is escalating on the line extending from Lebanon to Yemen and Iran, and different calculations are being attempted, especially through proxy forces. Turkey continues to be an island of stability.
İŞKUR YOUTH PROGRAM
Dear friends, one of the issues we discussed in our cabinet today was the İŞKUR Youth Program, which we implemented last year. We attach great importance to our young people getting to know working life, gaining experience, and preparing better for the future while continuing their education. Our young people are showing great interest in the İŞKUR Youth Program, which we started for this purpose. The number of young people who have benefited from the program to date has approached 220 thousand. These young friends of ours have both gained experience and earned a certain amount of income.
We are not leaving this interest of our youth unanswered. Now we are taking another step. We are increasing the quota of the program for the 2026-2027 period to 150 thousand. Within the scope of the program, a daily payment of 1,375 liras will be made to our young people. Our students who participate 14 days a month will be able to receive support of up to 19,250 liras. In addition, our state will cover the insurance premiums of our young people. Furthermore, under certain conditions, a promotion of 1,250 liras and special discount opportunities on various expenses will be offered.
We aim to reach three million young people in three years with our youth's production age, that is, our power move. We aim for one million of our university students to benefit from the İŞKUR Youth Program by the end of 2028. In defiance of those who try to use young people for their personal ambitions, we will continue to increase our support for the education, employment, and future of our youth. We will not abandon our youth to the ambitions of marginal structures, terrorist organizations, or careerist politicians.
"WE ARE MAKING INTENSE EFFORTS FOR THE RAPID RESOLUTION OF THE FUND ISSUE"
We are making intense efforts for the rapid resolution of the fund issue. Since our cabinet meeting, many positive steps have been taken, from the assignment of our State Supervisory Council to the establishment of our Fund Coordination Board, from informing our Grand National Assembly of Turkey to submitting the draft law to the appreciation of our Assembly on issues requiring legal regulation, from the start of the transfer of the Participation Pension Unit and Economy Participation Bank to Emlak Participation to the start of payments for funds whose Central Registry Agency transactions have been completed.
On the judicial side of the issue, investigations are continuing meticulously and in depth. Legal action has been taken against 282 people, including members of the boards of directors of fund companies. While 84 of them have been arrested, arrest warrants have been issued for 27 suspects. Judicial control measures have been applied to 99 people. With the passage of the draft law through our Assembly, principal payments of up to one million liras will begin in October. Following the completion of ordinary and extraordinary liquidations within October, a significant portion of investors will have received their interim payments. Our Fund Coordination Board will inform our public in a detailed and regular manner.
Dear friends, our primary priority right now is not to respond to those whose only capital in politics is polemics, but to manage this process transparently, fairly, and quickly without using public resources. I want everyone to know and understand this once again. Protecting the rights and laws of our nation is our red line. Whoever has obtained exorbitant returns and gained unfair profit through speculation and manipulation will definitely pay the price. Others may protect robbers, those who reach out for the nation's property, and those who resort to forbidden gains just because of their political party affiliation. They may protect them. They may travel from city to city and organize rallies for them. We are not like them. We hold those who go outside the law accountable, and we are doing so.
"WE WILL NOT ALLOW CHARACTER ASSASSINATION WITH FETÖ METHODS"
We are determined to implement whatever is necessary to prevent our country from facing a similar problem in this period. With additional regulations, we will strengthen the structure of our capital markets against such microbes and, I hope, make their functioning much healthier.
Of course, while taking these steps, we will not allow those who are mired in mud up to their necks to engage in character assassination against our staff and cabinet members with a completely "throw mud, some will stick" mentality and completely with a politics of hatred. Look, no one in Turkey, including myself, is beyond criticism. But no one's title, profession, or position gives them the right to organize a character assassination against someone else using FETÖ methods. The right to criticize is not the right to smear the interlocutor with lies and distortions. Similarly, freedom of expression is not the freedom to slander anyone who comes along. Everyone who claims to hold people accountable on behalf of the public must perform their duty with a sense of responsibility and must not play with people's honor and dignity.
News Source: 12punto
