Abdullah Gül emphasizes 'democracy'! Setting aside bridges and tunnels, he asks: 'How do we measure true success?'

The 11th President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, emphasized 'democracy' at an event he attended and asked: 'The major roads, bridges, tunnels, and airports built in recent years are all achievements we can be very proud of. Setting those aside, I would like to ask this: How do we measure true success?'

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Abdullah Gül emphasizes 'democracy'! Setting aside bridges and tunnels, he asks: 'How do we measure true success?'

The 11th President of the Republic of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, attended a panel titled 'Turkey in the Sustainable Development Process in the Second Century of the Republic,' organized by the Abdullah Gül University (AGU), which bears his name, in Kayseri.

Speaking at the panel, Gül implicitly referred to the actions of the AKP government and emphasized 'democracy.'

''I WONDER?''

Gül said, ''The major roads, bridges, tunnels, and airports built in recent years are all achievements and changes that we can be very proud of and for which Turkey has drawn attention all over the world. After setting these aside and giving them their due, I would like to say this: How do we measure true success? We need to measure this. We measure true success by making comparisons. If a comparative study is presented, where have countries similar to us come from and where are they now? What did they do, and what did we do? Recently, we need to put our hats on the table and think seriously. I wonder, what could we have done in these 100 years and where could we have reached? What could the alternatives have been? Serious people need to think about and work on these.''

SAD EMPHASIS ON 'ADVANCED DEMOCRACY'

Gül stated that Turkey's performance should be better compared to other countries, saying, ''It is sad, of course, that we have not yet crowned our Republic with an advanced democracy. We all say this. Of course, there is democracy in Turkey, but what I mean is an advanced and developed democracy, and what is meant by this is well known. We are still a middle-income country. That is, unfortunately, we cannot be mentioned among welfare states. When you take and look at the analyses and reports of the World Bank and international organizations and ask where Turkey stands, we still cannot be seen where welfare societies are. They make evaluations in all areas from international indices, economy to education, happiness to health, and when they rank the successes of all other countries compared in these indices, we all see with sadness that our performance should be better. We must realize an advanced democracy based on the rule of law that takes fundamental rights and freedoms as a basis in universal standards. Let us not forget that this is also the foundation of sustainable development. Without such a foundation, development in the true sense cannot be realized. Considering that democracy is essentially a process of perfection, all of this can be achieved with a determined political will and vision, even if it is late. In this context, I believe that the European Union membership process can help us.''

News Source: İHA