Erdoğan’s Antarctica pledge

Ankara Sports Hall was the venue for yesterday’s promotion of the AKP election manifesto and candidates. The wide-ranging security measures were unmissable and the roads surrounding the hall where the promotion was made were closed to traffic. With it being the month of Ramadan, images of crowds stretching outside the hall were lacking this time as opposed to previous meetings. In the hall, where, “Turkey Time” was used as the main slogan, banners reading, “Politics is getting younger and Turkey is getting stronger,” “Strong Parliament, Strong Government, Strong Turkey,” “Turkey is Rearing Up” and “The People Will Decide and Security and Stability Will Continue” were displayed. The manifesto that President Erdoğan announced displayed notable differences from manifestos issued in previous elections. One of the most striking of these was the setting up of a Scientific Centre in Antarctica.

 Some of the major changes in the manifesto are as follow:

 Mustafa Kemal in the manifesto: In the section devoted to the new system, while explaining that parliament and government will strengthen and duality will end in the administration, reference is made to the War of Liberation. The manifesto says, “A century ago from now, even as Greek soldiers were pressing towards Polatlı, our grandfathers whose memory we cherish, under the leadership of war hero Mustafa Kemal, did not close parliament, passed resolutions with the will of parliament under conditions of war and won our War of Independence under the leadership of our Grand National Assembly. The Turkish Grand National Assembly, where the national will manifests itself, will continue its activities in a powerful manner in the new period; it will function as an important component of the new system; it will continue its legislative activities unbroken in the interests of freedom, well-being and prosperity.” There was absolutely no mention of Atatürk in previous manifestos.

Definition given of secularism: As opposed to previous manifestos, there was mention of secularism under the heading “relations between religion and state.” It is stated that the party accepts secularism in terms of religious freedoms and different life styles being guaranteed by the law-based state and the state being equidistant to all faith groups. It is stressed that the nation, having a venerable past and “vast experience,” had long since derived certain of the benefits of secularism, with Hacı Bektaş Veli, Mevlana, Yunus Emre and Sarı Saltuk cited by way of example of this.

 “Kurdish problem” not mentioned by name: With a long section devoted to the Kurdish problem and solution process in the 1 November manifesto, there is a noticeable absence of such expressions in this manifesto. What has been done until now is encapsulated in the statement, “We have perceived every kind of humanitarian issue of our Kurdish citizens as an issue of democracy and prosperity.” The manifesto contains the sentences, “We embrace our togetherness on the historic journey in which our nation’s basic values were forged and the notion of equal citizenship. By means of this notion, we will foster the development by the state of an equitable, equality-based, democratic relationship will all social segments and continue to embrace all components of our social richness through a pluralistic approach.”

 Nothing new for Alevis: Regarding Alevis, the pronouncement, “We will recognise the legal status of traditional centres of learning and cemevis” made at the time of 1 November was repeated.

 Continuation of the state of emergency: The manifesto, arguing that the state of emergency had to be initiated due to the 15 July coup attempt, says, “We will continue to implement the state of emergency without harming our citizens’ fundamental rights and freedoms until our national security and the well-being of our citizens have been fully secured.”

 Relations with the EU and US: The manifesto, which describes relations with the EU as being complementary and not an alternative to other relations, states that the goal of EU accession is being maintained. The manifesto, which includes the problems being experienced with the US, comments, “We wish to surmount the problems being experienced with the US. The US abandoning its support for the PYD/YPG in Syria, giving concrete support for our fight against the PKK and taking concrete steps over extraditing FETO constitute the basic planks of our cooperation.”

 Turkish scientific base in Antarctica: The manifesto, proclaiming that a number of new programmes will be launched from training researchers to R&D support, states that a Turkish scientific base in Antarctica will commence operations in the coming year. The manifesto states that investments in technological products in priority areas will be given effective support and the car project will be brought into life speedily.

 Garden project following 16 years of concreting over: Thirty green spaces will be brought into being in Istanbul as well as the national gardens project in Eskişehir, Bursa, Trabzon, Gaziantep, Adana and Mersin. Atatürk Airport in Istanbul will be turned into a national garden.

 İnce’s pledge is the AKP’s good news

 President Erdoğan, pointing to the importance of winning a majority in parliament, spoke of their target of attaining well above 50% in the presidential election and of the need to establish a strong group in parliament having secured the support of at least half the nation. Erdoğan, saying, “I wish to give good news to our police officers, teachers, nurses and religious functionaries,” announced that the retirement supplementary scales would be increased to 3600. The CHP’s candidate Muharrem İnce has for some time been saying that if he wins the election he will solve the police officers and teachers’ supplementary scale problem and increase the scale to 3600.

 Erdoğan Antarktika'dan bildirdi: Vaatler ve gerçekler