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President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Turkey's Kurdish-majority eastern province of Şırnak yesterday (October 18). He attended the Şırnak 7th Ordinary Provincial Congress of his party and the opening ceremony of some facilities.
In his speech in the opening ceremony, Erdoğan said, "We have been generating services for the past 18 years without making any discrimination on the basis of political preferences, ethnicities, languages or religions. In line with the understanding that 'a tree is known by its fruit,' we leave our mark on each one of our 81 provinces through our works."
Erdoğan also addressed the members of his party at the Şırnak 7th Ordinary Provincial Congress. "We have been offering services, saying, 'Democracy for everyone, development for everyone," Erdoğan indicated and added, "If you are discriminated against in any way in terms of democracy and development, it is my duty to make the perpetrator pay for it."
Touching upon a series of other current issues such as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey's gas exploration and drilling activities, Erdoğan briefly continued as follows:
'Minsk Trio sides with Armenia'
"Why are we in Azerbaijan, why do we stand with our brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan? Notice what they are called, the 'Minsk Trio.' Who is the Minsk Trio? The US, Russia, and France. Well, then who did they side with? They sided with Armenia. Do they support Armenia and the Armenians with all kinds of weapons? Yes, they do.
"While all these are being done, our Azeri brothers and sisters are currently in a substantial struggle against the Armenians. Why do they wage this struggle? They wage this struggle because they aspire to liberate the occupied territories of Azerbaijan from the Armenians. What could be more natural, more subsistent than that?
"The US, Russia, and France have not finished these negotiations for 30 years and have not provided the lands of the Azerbaijani people to them. Now, our Azerbaijani brothers and sisters are struggling to liberate their occupied territories. I believe that they will take back and liberate their occupied territories from the Armenians. We pray for them, and I hope they will be successful in this regard."
'What is the US doing in Syria?'
"What do they say to us, 'What are you doing there?' We are where the persecution is. They say, 'What are you doing in Syria?' We have a border of 911 kilometres. If there is such an occupation, where our 911-kilometre border is located, are we not going to save our brothers and sisters over there from such occupation?
"Are we not going to secure our borders? Why does this bother some circles? Sorry, but we are there and we will be there. The US has 24 bases in Syria. What is the point of the US coming here from a distance of 11 thousand kilometres and establishing a base here?
"On the other hand, the US is bringing more than 3 thousand trucks of weapons, ammunition, and equipment here. Why on earth are you here? How will you explain it to them? But the world, the West does not stand in solidarity with Azerbaijan right now.
"Mind you, a ceasefire was declared tonight, but the Armenians broke it again and restarted their attacks. Does the West say anything, despite all that is obvious? No, it does not.
'One side is Iraq, the other is Syria'
"One side of Şırnak is Iraq, the other side is Syria. Those living on both sides are our brothers and sisters of thousands of years, regardless of their origins, beliefs, sects, and status.
"Unfortunately, on both sides, there is suffering caused by exploitative terrorist organisations, cruel regimes or sectarian fanatics.
"Terrorist organisations exploit all your sensibilities and all your dreams when it comes to words, but in reality, each of these them works only for the countries that are here only for their interests and calculations, which have nothing to do with our geography, our belief, or our culture.
'They are coming at us with scenarios'
"405 billion cubic meters of natural gas discovered in the Tuna-1 well in the Sakarya gas field is large enough to meet the needs of our country for years.
"Yesterday, they could corner Turkey with 3-5 terrorists, 3-5-billion-dollar worth manipulations. Since they do not work anymore, that must be why they are coming at us with scenarios and games on a global scale.
"Thank God, we frustrate each of these scenarios, spoil each of these games. We did it in Iraq, we did it in Syria, we did it in the Mediterranean, we did it in the Black Sea, and we did it on all international platforms we are involved in. Now, with its nation and state, this country is advancing in pursuit of its own goals, not in the direction that others push." (RT/SD)
*Sources: Presidency, Presidential Communications Directorate
