President Erdoğan: We act with a perspective that sees the dangers behind the mountain

PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said regarding the Iran-Israel conflict, "We, our Foreign Minister and our other friends are mobilized to prevent irreparable suffering. We are all concerned with taking our country from the stormy waters whose waves are constantly rising to calm waters as soon as possible. We are acting not with one-day policies but with a long-term perspective that sees the dangers beyond the mountain and takes precautions against them early."

Erdoğan said, "From the February 28 coup that arrogant tutelage centers said would 'last a thousand years' to the April 27 declaration, from the coefficient injustice and headscarf bans to the closure case against our party that came to power with the votes of our people, from the Gezi uprising to the December 17-25 police-judicial conspiracies, to the treacherous coup attempt on July 15, Memur-Sen has always stood by our nation and democracy in all attacks targeting our independence and future. Starting with the disaster of the century we experienced on February 6, Memur-Sen was always on the field in forest fires, floods, disasters and epidemics. It was by our nation's side with all its capacity. You successfully represented our nation not only within our borders but also abroad."

'WE EMBRACED THE STATE WITH THE PEOPLE'

Stating that they have been working since the first day they took office to ensure that Türkiye grows, develops and strengthens, and that 86 million citizens live in a more prosperous country, Erdoğan said that they have paved the way for all segments of society with the arrangements made at the constitutional, law and legislation levels, and that they have taken all necessary measures to ensure that public services are provided effectively, quickly, equally and efficiently. Erdoğan said, "There has been a radical paradigm shift in public administration. We have removed the barbed wires that were drawn between the state and the nation during the single-party and tutelage periods one by one. We have brought the 'Cumhur' together with the Republic. We have embraced the state with the nation. Again, during this process, we have implemented very important demands of our public servants in dialogue with our unions such as Memur-Sen. We have strengthened the financial and social rights of our civil servants with regulations, the importance of which is better understood today when we look back. We have made extremely important strides in terms of democratic rights. We have given an additional degree to our public servants between 2002 and 2010. We have taken steps in favor of our employees, from pardoning disciplinary punishments to including union representatives in disciplinary boards. We have increased family support allowances. We have strengthened child support. We have facilitated the assignment of civil servants with disabled relatives. We have granted companionship leave. We have ensured that all salary promotions are paid to public servants. We have granted collective bargaining rights to public servants with the 2010 Constitutional Referendum. We have increased collective bargaining premiums, collective bargaining "We have converted it into a bonus. We have made significant increases in the salaries and bonuses of our retired civil servants. We have transferred 280 thousand contract personnel to the staff in 2011 and 2013, and 460 thousand in 2023," he said.

'THE DARK DAYS ARE NOW BEHIND'

Erdoğan stated that Türkiye’s biggest problem was ‘discrimination’ for a while and said, “Our public officials were being blacklisted and subjected to pressure just because they were trying to live their beliefs. They were being insulted by being called ‘reactionary’, ‘reactionary’, ‘sectarian’, ‘bigot’ just because they were implementing their religion in their lives. Those who said ‘Peace be upon you’, those who said ‘Elhamdulillah’, those who prayed, those who went on the hajj, those who fasted were especially looked down upon during certain periods and were subjected to psychological pressure in the institutions they worked at. For decades, there was an ideological caste system, especially in the bureaucracy, and they never wanted this to be discussed or discussed. They did not recognize the right to life for anyone outside their own faction. They called the nation ‘can head’. They called them ‘man scratching his belly’. They insulted our people with expressions that our decency would not allow here. We have seen all of these and much more together with you. We have felt every kind of pressure in our bones.” "We have lived together with you until today. We have broken the chains that were put on the will of the people and our democracy together with you, my Memur-Sen brothers. Thank God, those dark days when the wild minority imposed a lifestyle on the silent majority, put pressure on them and shook their finger are now behind us," he said.

'OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE SOLID SECURITY FOR THESE GAINS'

President Erdoğan stated that they have put an end to the prohibitive practices and said, "We have granted unpaid leave to our public employees who want to perform the Hajj obligation. We have implemented the leave regulation that includes the time for Friday prayers. We have put an end to the fascist, prohibitive practices regarding the headscarf. Today, women can work freely in all public institutions without any restrictions. From the dark days when our sisters were put in their place from the rostrum because they entered the Parliament with the votes of the people wearing headscarves and when their chastity was immorally criticized in newspaper columns; today, we have come to the days when there are judges, prosecutors, governors, ambassadors, politicians and ministers wearing headscarves. Our goal is to provide a more solid guarantee in the new constitution for all these gains that we have paid the price for. Only in this way can we completely stop the impudence, arrogance that we witness from time to time and the intolerance felt when our people use their most basic rights. In order for the generations after us not to experience what we experienced, we must "We have to establish and strengthen an environment in this country where no one is ostracized because of their burqa. The greatest legacy we will leave behind will be such a Turkey. In this respect, I find the support you will give to our struggle to bring a new, civil and libertarian constitution to be very important. I expect Memur-Sen to contribute to our 'Terror-Free' Turkey initiative, which we initiated as the People's Alliance and carried out as a state project, and to sincerely embrace this auspicious process," he said.

'WE HAVE SPREAD UNION AWARENESS IN THE PUBLIC'

Stating that they have also taken important steps regarding their personal rights, Erdoğan said, "We have introduced income tax exemption equal to the minimum wage for the salaries of all our employees, including public servants. We have implemented an additional indicator regulation covering 5 million 300 thousand people. We have made a new regulation for the Collective Agreement Bonus, which the main opposition took to the Constitutional Court and had it cancelled, and ensured that this bonus is paid to all public servants who are union members. We have recently successfully completed the work on the relocation of university administrative personnel and put it into effect. We have spread union awareness in the public sector. In 2002, the unionization rate of public servants was 47.94 percent. This rate increased to 75.18 percent in 2024. The number of union members, which was 650 thousand 770 in 2002, has increased to 2 million 251 thousand today. While there were 44 unions 23 years ago, we have 286 unions today. This picture clearly shows the importance we attach to the development and growth of public unionism."

'WE WILL LISTEN TO THE DEMANDS OF THE UNIONS WITH OUR EARS'

Erdoğan stated that they will take care to draw a road map that balances the welfare of public employees and said, "With the increases we made in January 2025, we brought the lowest civil servant salary to 43 thousand 726 liras. With this increase, the real increase in the lowest civil servant salary since 2002 has increased to 266 percent. Now we have a new collective agreement period ahead of us. The 8th Term Public Collective Agreement negotiations, which will cover the years 2026-2027, will hopefully start in August. In these negotiations, we will listen to the demands of the unions carefully, observe the facts, and take care to draw a road map that balances the welfare of our public employees with the possibilities of our economy. The struggle we have given for our public employees in 23 years, the steps we have taken, and the reforms we have implemented are obvious. As the Turkish economy has grown, we have ensured that the added value resulting from this is distributed fairly to all segments of society. We will duly protect the rights of our public employees, such as our producers, farmers, laborers, and industrialists, improve their conditions, and protect them from inflation." "It is our primary duty not to let anyone oppress us. Just as we have developed the social, financial and personnel rights of our public servants so far, we will act with the same principle in the new collective agreement process," he said.

'WE ARE MAKING EFFORTS TO PREVENT ATTACKS FROM BECOMING A DISASTER'

Erdoğan stated that as Turkey, they are struggling to heal the wounds of the February 6 earthquakes, the total cost of which exceeded 100 billion dollars, and on the other hand, they are trying to manage the conflicts and crises in the region with peace, and said, "We did not allow the Russia-Ukraine war, which has completed 3.5 years, to spread to our country. We have been one of the countries that have taken the clearest stance against Israel in the Gaza genocide that has been ongoing since October 7, 2023. We have stopped all commercial transactions with the genocidal Israel and got rid of a total of 9 billion dollars. While the main opposition party was slandering the Palestinian resistance as 'terror', we stood tall by our Gazan brothers. Finally, we are making intense efforts to prevent the attacks of Israel and its supporters against our neighbor Iran from turning into a bigger disaster. We never approve of the attacks on Iran's sovereignty and the security of our region, regardless of who they come from, and we clearly express our reaction. Over the weekend, the Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation We hosted the 51st session of the Council in Istanbul for 2 days. Tomorrow, we are going to The Hague to attend the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. We, our Foreign Minister and our other friends are mobilized to prevent irreparable pain. We are all concerned with taking our country from the stormy waters whose wave height is constantly rising to calm waters as soon as possible. We are not acting with day-to-day policies, but with a long-term perspective that sees the dangers beyond the mountain and takes precautions against them early. May our nation rest assured. We have done, will do and are doing whatever needs to be done to prevent a single hair of 86 million from being harmed," he said.

'POPULISM HAS IMPOSED HEAVY COSTS ON THIS NATION'

Erdoğan said, "Despite all these difficulties, we have thankfully started to see the positive results of our economic program that we have been implementing with determination for the last 2 years. As our inflation targets are achieved, the increase in purchasing power will hopefully be felt more. The winners of this will be all 86 million. Short-term calculations have always made this country lose. Populism has burdened this nation with very heavy bills in the past. We do not give credence to the provocations of those who have been throwing around a lot in election campaigns and now throwing out municipal workers. If you pay attention; on one side, Israel and its partners are attacking our neighbor Iran, on the other side, the leader of the main opposition party is trying to deal a blow to the Turkish economy and national brands with irresponsible boycott lists that he has brought up again. He is shamelessly playing with the people's bread in order to protect 3-5 pickpockets who have extorted the business world, tradesmen and merchants through municipalities. While we are surrounded by a ring of fire, targeting national brands that provide employment with new boycott lists in such a period is not negligence; it means declaring war on the economy. Those who follow the world, no one with a sense of responsibility can act so unconsciously and arbitrarily. In fact, we have seen many times in the past that their concern is never the rights of our public officials and workers. They said ‘We will not fire anyone,’ but when the opportunity arose, they kicked tens of thousands of workers out the door without an ounce of mercy. Today, we know very well that they have no other goal than to enrich their supporters, build money towers with what they steal from the nation, and establish troll armies with the nation’s money so that they can insult this or that person. We will never fall into the trap that individuals who would not be able to go out into the public under normal circumstances want to pull us into. We will continue to walk with sure steps on the path we know is right,” he said. Reminding that the collective bargaining processes of approximately 600 thousand workers working in the public sector are continuing, Erdoğan noted the following: “Hopefully, we are also solving the problem experienced regarding protective clothing and equipment, which causes various grievances. Our bill regarding this issue was submitted to the Presidency of the Parliament by our AK Party group last week. May it bring good luck and good fortune.”

DHA

Reporter: News Center