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Turkey needs Europe, which is currently experiencing an economic crisis, for its own economic development and the Turkish business world should avoid making “overly confident” remarks about the state of affairs in the Turkish economy, President Abdullah Gül has said.
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Speaking to journalists aboard a plane to Vienna on Friday, Gül shared his concerns over recent remarks claiming that the end of Europe is near due to the eurozone debt crisis, occurring at a time when Turkey is thriving economically. The president said: “There are some overly confident comments in Turkey in the face of the crisis the EU is struggling through. We shouldn’t forget that while our national income per capita is about $10,000, the average in the EU is about $30-40,000. We need to grow by 10 percent annually until 2023 to reach that level. Our growth rate staying at around 10 percent every year depends on them [European countries] being in good shape. The EU is going through tough times, but it is not like it will go bankrupt. They will find a solution eventually. What is going on today is only temporary.”
Gül also responded to a question about the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an illegal umbrella organization for all PKK-affiliated groups. Gül said he believes PKK supporters are directly taking orders from KCK members. “If, at night, groups of 50-100 take to the streets and vandalize buses with Molotov cocktails, then one should ask whether it was an isolated case or masterminded by others. The indictment [of KCK suspects] has yet to be accepted by the court, but it looks like there is something there.”
The president expressed his confidence that ongoing investigations into the unsolved assassinations of the ‘90s, believed to have been perpetrated by criminal elements inside intelligence units and the police force, will bring to light the truth about the shadier parts of Turkey’s recent history. “The important point about the fact that these cases are being investigated is that it will deter others in the future. Turkey is cleansing,” he said.
Gül also responded to questions about the condition of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s health following his gastric surgery last week. There have been claims that Erdoğan is struggling health-wise. “No. Thank God, he is in good shape. I saw him after the operation and talked to his doctors. Very thorough tests have been conducted and have all come back clean.”
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Source : todayszaman.com
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