AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continued his contacts in New York, USA, where he is attending the 81st United Nations General Assembly. On the second day of his visit, following bilateral meetings, Erdoğan spoke at the "100 Years of Friendship: Turkey-United States" event.
Erdoğan stated that the trade volume between Turkey and the US is expected to exceed 40 billion dollars by the end of the year, adding that the previously set 100 billion dollar trade target between the two countries should be increased.
"We are making a strong start to the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries," said Erdoğan, adding, "I would like to express my special thanks to the America-Turkey Business Council and the American Chamber of Commerce for this event organized on the eve of this exceptional period. With the contribution of my sincere and exceptional dialogue with my dear friend, President Trump, we have made and are continuing to make significant progress in every field of our relations."
"OUR TRADE VOLUME HAS DOUBLED OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS"
Referring to his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington and Trump's visit to Ankara in July, Erdoğan drew attention to trade and economic cooperation in the relations between the two countries.
"It has brought a new breath of life. Through these visits, while opening the door to the second 100 years of our relations, we are working with all our might to achieve concrete progress on many issues.
The conflicts, wars, and crises we face in our region and the world require Turkey and America to be in close dialogue. Thanks to the dialogue and coordination we have established with America, we are achieving positive results for our countries in many issues where we witness global effects, from the Middle East to Africa and Asia. We are determined to continue this by increasing our efforts in the coming period."
Erdoğan stated that economic and commercial relations cannot be evaluated separately from political relations and continued as follows:
"At this point, I would like to underline this issue first. We can never think of our strategic relations with the US separately from our economic and commercial relations, and we do not. On the contrary, today our relations in the field of trade are among the leading elements that support and advance our political relations.
Despite economic and political fluctuations in the world, our trade volume has doubled over the last 10 years. Our bilateral trade, which exceeded 38 billion dollars in 2025, reached 28 billion dollars in the first 8 months of this year. It is understood that we will exceed the 2025 figure with 40 billion dollars by the end of the year."
Erdoğan said that the 100 billion dollar trade target set with Trump should be increased.
"I find the 100 billion dollar trade target we set with President Trump extremely important. However, we need to increase it a little more. I say this especially for this reason: Turkey is a country located in the heart of the world's most strategic geography. Despite the crises and conflicts surrounding it in recent times, it has maintained and even strengthened its identity as an island of stability."
"WE HAVE STRONG TIES WITH MANY REGIONS"
Touching upon Turkey's economic and political ties with surrounding regions, Erdoğan pointed to Syria, Iraq, the Caucasus, and North Africa.
"We have strong ties with many regions that hold serious potential, from Syria to Iraq, from the Caucasus to North Africa. We are utilizing these ties in the most effective way with a win-win understanding," he said.
"TURKISH ECONOMY IS RESILIENT AGAINST STRONG SHOCKS"
In his assessment regarding the Turkish economy, Erdoğan listed the economic indicators of the last 24 years.
"Turkey, which had a national income of 236 billion dollars when we took office, has reached a size of 1.8 trillion dollars today. Our per capita income, which was 3,600 dollars, will hopefully exceed 20,000 dollars as of the end of 2026. The amount of direct foreign investment we have attracted to the country in the last 24 years has approached 300 billion dollars."
Referring to the efforts carried out after the 2023 earthquake disaster, Erdoğan gave figures regarding the housing in the earthquake zone.
"We managed to heal the wounds opened by the earthquake disaster in 2023 in the cities in a short time. In just three years, we cleared the rubble, rebuilt our cities from scratch, turned the earthquake zone into the world's largest construction site, and completed and delivered more than 455 thousand residences to our earthquake victims."
Erdoğan continued his words as follows:
"All these figures, all these successes actually show us this: Turkey is a country whose economy is resilient against strong shocks. Those who invest in Turkey have always come out profitable. Turkey has never left those who trust it halfway. Now, we are launching a new investment move on this strong foundation."
"COME AND MANAGE YOUR OPERATIONS FROM TURKEY"
Erdoğan also provided information regarding the incentives implemented within the scope of the investment program announced in April.
"For those who invest in our country, we have reduced the Corporate Tax from 25 percent to 12.5 percent. We have exempted earnings from transit trade in industrial zones determined by the Istanbul Finance Center from Corporate Tax. We have carried this opportunity to the whole of Turkey for the first time.
We tell investors, 'come and manage your operations from Turkey'. Of course, duties fall to the business council and the chamber of commerce in this process. We expect you to continue to encourage American investors to take advantage of the opportunities Turkey offers."
Stating that the incentives contribute not only to trade but also to political relations, Erdoğan said that there are steps that need to be taken ahead.
"I see that these incentives of ours make a great contribution not only to our trade but also to the political relations between our countries. However, there is a long road ahead of us that we need to walk. There are obstacles we need to overcome and steps we need to take on this path."
"WE WANT TO GAIN NEW MOMENTUM"
Touching upon the cooperation between Turkey and the US in the fields of energy, civil aviation, high technology, and the defense industry, Erdoğan said that defense industry relations between the two countries should be developed.
"We are ready to carry forward the cooperation we have established with America in fields such as energy, including nuclear and LNG, civil aviation, and high technology. It is essential that the defense industry, which is one of the traditionally strongest areas of our partnership, be developed both bilaterally and within NATO. We want to leave behind the obstacles that should never have existed between two allies and gain new momentum."
"TODAY WE ARE EXPORTING MORE THAN 10 BILLION DOLLARS"
Erdoğan also shared data regarding Turkey's defense industry exports.
"At this point, I must also state this: With the breakthroughs and moves it has made, Turkey has now become an actor that is in demand not only in its region but on a global scale in the defense industry. While we were only exporting 248 million dollars of defense products per year 20 years ago, today we have reached a level where we export more than 10 billion dollars."
"Our share in global defense equipment exports has increased by over 120 percent compared to 5 years ago. Now, our companies have reached a level where they can invest in America with the equipment and innovation they possess. I believe that we will enter the top 10 countries in the world in defense industry exports very soon. Deepening our cooperation with America in a multidimensional way, including joint production opportunities, will be to our mutual benefit."
"I WISH FOR IT TO BECOME EVEN STRONGER IN THE SECOND CENTURY"
In the final part of his speech, Erdoğan made assessments regarding Turkish citizens living in the US.
"We are pleased that our citizens living in America are strongly integrating into the social fabric of America while maintaining their ties with our country. We are proud of our citizens who have distinguished themselves in politics, business, science, culture, art, sports, and other fields within the Turkish-American community. We expect you to add new successes to your achievements."
Erdoğan concluded his words as follows:
"I wish for the strong ties and the law of alliance between Turkey and America to become even stronger in the second century of our diplomatic relations."
At the program, a gift was presented to Erdoğan by Hamdi Ulukaya, Chairman of the US-Turkey Business Council.
News Source: 12punto
