15th July2016 : A great victory for Turkish Democracy

Dr.Syed Mehboob

Political and Economic Analyst

http//: www.thenewslark.com

email: drmehboob.thenewslark@gmail.com

Sincere, visionary, dynamic, and far-sighted leadership lifts its nation and takes it to a highly dignified and respectable position in the world. Such leaders are highly respected, admired, and loved by their nations. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is among those leaders who are adored by their people. Brother country, Turkiye, got a very dignified and honorable position under the dynamic and able leadership of Tayyip Erdogan. Turkiye is now a democratic country, and democratic norms and values are deeply rooted in its system. Turkish development and advancement in science and technology, economic stability, and growth were eye-dazzling, and anti-development and anti- democratic forces joined hands against Tayyip Erdogan’s democratically elected government.

Anti-democratic forces were backed by some countries that are so-called champions of democracy, and on 15^th July 2016,these anti- democratic forces attempted a coup d’état against Erdogan’s government. They tried to seize control of several places in Ankara, Istanbul, and the Asian side entrance of the Bosphorus Bridge. They bitterly failed, and the people of Turkiye and the vast majority of Turkish forces fully backed President Erdogan’s government. This coup was backed by the Gulen movement, which was led by Fethullah Gulen, who is living in exile in Pennsylvania, United States of America. Hundreds of people have been killed, and many government buildings, including the Turkish Parliament and the President’s House, were bombed from the air. The Turkish nation exhibited great resilience and showed unity even though the opposition parties condemned this anti democracy.

 The coup attempt was outside the chain of command, and it was an illegal attempt to seize power by part of the military.

Pro-Erdogan forces sent text messages to every Turkish citizen calling for them to protest against the coup attempt. Throughout the night, Salah prayers were repeatedly called from mosque minarets across the country to encourage people to resist the coup perpetrators. The roots of the terror free Turkiye vision were laid during the democracy resistance that the country displayed in the streets during the 15^th July coup attempt. That night , a brand new political culture and mindset , based on the will of the people, was born. The vision of the “ CENTURY OF TURKIYE” was built upon that social consciousness. Even after the nine years since July 15, 2016 , memories in the minds and hearts of people is fresh and they pledge on this day to continue their all efforts to take Turkiye towards a highly developed, strong, democratic country under the able , dynamic and visionary leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The people of Turkiye had exhibited a sense of great unity and solidarity for their beloved homeland. Under the theme of “ Victory is Turkiye “ many projects activities have been introduced.

FETO terror group wanted to dislodge a democratically elected government, tens of thousands of Turkish people came out showing their disassociation with FETO and its ulterior motives and vested interests. People fought at key locations of Istanbul and Ankara confronting the armed FEYTO members on bridges, outside the parliament building, and other significant locations. Thousands of protestors came out armed with nothing but their courage. A civilian man was run over by a tank as he stood in front of it; a woman was shot dead in cold blood; police commandoes including many female officers lost their lives defending their posts and headquarters. The coup plotters loyal to the terror group bombed the parliament building in Ankara and made an attempt on the life of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who by the grace of Almighty Allah survived. In subsequent weeks after the coup failed, Turkish prosecutors gathered evidence that the treason was led by the US-based Fethullah Gulen, the head of FETO terror group.The Turkish people had struggled hard for democracy and had seen its benefits in the shape of rapid economic development, infrastructure expansion, construction of subways and improvement in public transportation.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan a visionary, dedicated, committed, charismatic leader of brother country Turkiye. Under his dynamic leadership Turkiye got international importance. He filled enthusiasm, valor and a new spirit in Turkish people. Under his leadership Turkiye and its people relinked itself with its history, culture and norms.

People of Pakistan have a very sentimental attachment with Erdogan and in many mosques of the country people arranged special prayers for his victory. It indicates the closeness, deep rooted, time tested and all weathered relations with brother country Turkiye.

Erdogan came in politics led by veteran politician Necmettin Erbakan. In 1994 Erdogan was elected as mayor of Istanbul, where he implemented a series  of reforms that modernized city’s infrastructure. In 1998 he was convicted for reciting an Islamic poem by Zia Gokalp that compared the mosques with barracks and the faithful as soldiers . Erdogan was released from prison in 1999 and formed his own party AKP which is known as Justice and Development Party. Erdogan received a landslide victory in 2002. When his political ban was lifted, Erdogan became Prime Minister after winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003. Erdogan led the AKP to two more elections in 2007 and 2011.  Huge development activities were witnessed including heavy investment in roads, airports and high- speed train work. He also won two successful constitution referendum in 2007 and 2010. In 2014, Erdogan become the nation’s first popular elected president. During his tenure as Mayor Istanbul he resolved many chronic problems including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water problems were solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the established state of the art recycling facilities. Air Pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch the natural gas. He introduced environmentally friendly development projects in the country. The city’s traffic and transportation jams were reduced with constructing more than fifty bridges, Viaducts and highways. He took precautionary measures to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan municipality’s two billion US dollars debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. Erdogan initiated the first-round taste of Mayors during the Istanbul Conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven members international jury form the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdogan The UN Habitat Award. Erdogan as Prime Minister attracted foreign investment and he provided business and investment friendly atmosphere to them.

The Cash inflow into the Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP, 43% increase in GDP per capita. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the value from developed countries. Erdogan inherited a debt of US$ 23.5 billion to IMF which was reduced to US$ 0.9 billion in 2012. In 2002 Turkiye had US$ 26.5 billion foreign reserves which raised to US$ 92.2 billion, During Erdogan’s period inflation fell from 32 to 9% in 2004. Turkish public debt as a percentage of GDP was 74% in 2002 which reduced to 39% in just in six years. In 2003, the Labour Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey’s labour law was introduced. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45 hour work per week and limiting overtime to 270 hours yearly, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religious or political affiliation , prohibited discrimination between temporary permanent workers , entitled employee termination without “ valid cause” to compensation, mandated written contract employment, agreements lasting a year or more. Erdogan increased budget of education from 7.5 billion Lira to 34 billion liras in 2011, the higher share of the national budget to ministry. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to 12. During Erdogan’s premiership the number of universities in Turkiye nearly doubled from 98 in 2002 to 186 in 2012.

Under the Erdogan government number of Airports in Turkiye increased from 26 to 50 in the period of ten years. Between the founding of Turkiye in 1923 to 2002, there had been 6,000 km of dual carriage way roads created between 2003 to 2011, another 13,500 km of express way were built. Due to these reasons number of accidents fell by fifty percent. For the first time, in Turkish history high speed railway lines were constructed, and the country’s high speed train service began in 2009. In eight years, 1076 Km of railway were built and 5,449 Km railway were renewed. Erdogan is co- founder of, “  United Nations Alliance  of Civilization “ ( UNAC).

Erdogan ranked first place in the world 500 most influential Muslims in 2019. Tayyip Erdogan is a visionary leader. Few countries have such sort of hardworking, committed, dedicated and charismatic leaders. People of Turkiye are very fortunate that they have a very sincere and honest leader. On 28^th May, 2023 which was a historic occasion when Erdogan won the second phase of presidential election.

An Airport which is the largest in the world has been built, a bridge on Bosporus, network of local roads, highways and bridges have been developed in Anatolia. In total, projects under public-private partnership (PPP) in the year 2003-2018 included 5,600 km of highways, 11800 km of high-speed railway tracks or 44,300 new beds in 32 integrated health campuses are those shining achievements of Tayyip Erdogan.  On the other hand, the state budget for the years 20017-2023 provided funds in the amount of USD 80 billion for road investments and energy goals, USD 39 billion for renewable energy, USD 35 billion for nuclear energy, USD 15 billion for local energy and US$ 10 billion for other energy sources, as well as the expansion of airports, railways and ports US$ 30 billion for each branch.

Estimated data for Infrastructure investments in Turkiye for 2017-2023

US $ billion

The healthcare system has undergone significant reforms during the AKP’s rule and is seen as one of the greatest achievements of the Erdogan’s era. . According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data, the percentage of citizens satisfied “or “very satisfied” with the national healthcare system increased from 40% in 2003 to almost 75% in 2013. Tayyip Erdogan governments reforms introduced in Turkiye included among others, compulsory universal insurance model that covered all citizens (finally introduced in 2008). As a result of the reforms, some health care services, such as ambulances and cancer treatment, have been become free on both public and private hospitals.

Turkish people love their leadership very much and July 15 celebrations are the phenomena of this love and their adherence with democracy , development , progress and prosperity.