Efkan Ala's statements to Habertürk
Statements from AK Party Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala to Habertürk, who evaluated the hot topics of the agenda.
The highlights from Ala's statements are as follows:
Regarding me becoming the deputy chairman, I would like to express my gratitude for the trust and attention shown by our President in determining the Central Executive Committee. We will continue our work so as not to be embarrassed. We were in this position again after the extraordinary congress. Our change process has been continuing on a principle since the party was founded. That principle is to take the accumulation and experience together and carry them forward. This reduces mistakes and increases solutions. There were 60 thousand people outside the congress. It was already jam-packed inside. Although it was very cold, our President made a greeting speech from the top of the bus. There was incredible excitement in that cold. A dynamic crowd. It was truly a magnificent congress.
"THE PARTIES ARE FIGHTING AMONG THEMSELVES"When we look at the developments in our region, Syria, the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia, the Caucasus, their policies have yielded results here. The occupied lands in Karabakh were liberated. The Baath regime that lasted more than half a century in Syria collapsed. Their theses were successful both in the north and south of Turkey. They are taking on incidents between Ukraine and Russia, our President is taking the most important initiative, and the leaders are conducting their diplomacy. Our citizens are comparing us with other parties in the country. The parties are fighting among themselves, experiencing their own crises.
"120 THOUSAND NEW MEMBERS WERE MADE"While we were also conducting Turkey in stability and moving it towards its goals, we held 3,162 congresses. Starting in October. We also held women's and youth branch congresses with serious participation. The women's branch has 5.5 million members, the youth branch has nearly 1 million members. It is among the top 5 in the world, a large civil society member with no rival in Turkey. It has 11.5 million members. If you add all of them up, the total of the parties, go to the Supreme Court website, is 2.5-3 million. The total is one fourth of the AK Party. This is a large audience. A large participation, excitement. While we were holding these congresses, more than 5 million of our youth, women's branch and main level brothers and sisters attended these congresses. 120 thousand new members were made. We came together with the delegates. We discussed the problems of Turkey's regions in a participatory manner.
When citizens look, there is excitement, projects, programs, visions and work here. What is on the other side? Incredibly, someone there says that he was stabbed, their former general chairmen come back and say 'shady congress'. They end up in court. Provincial chairmen or party members say that money was distributed at the congress, that there are shady issues and allegations are made. Internal turmoil emerges. Whenever internal turmoil occurs, they start a presidential discussion to cover it up. They do these discussions to cover it up but it does not yield results. It is seen that people in other parties are interested in the AK Party. The interest and excitement have increased. It is seen that the vision and work that will realize Turkey's goals are here. 75 percent of our provincial chairmen, 65 percent of our district chairmen and 52 percent of the Central Executive Board have changed. Our friends work in one place and then take on duties in other areas. Our friends who were in other positions come back to the same position. We see change as a means of progress.
NEW NAMES JOINING THE AK PARTYWe do not govern Turkey with sentences that do not produce politics and that they make up for speculation among themselves. We would be very pleased if educated people who have served in other parties, who see what is happening around Turkey and understand the necessity of walking towards its goals, who see that being together with the AK Party and our President will provide more opportunities to contribute, would walk with us. Both Mr. Kürşat and Mr. Serap Hoca, Mr. Nedim, Mr. Ensarioğlu are here because they see more opportunities to contribute. That was their goal when they joined those parties, but while those parties are busy solving their own problems, Turkey is recruiting cadres that will solve Turkey's problems. We are not in a bargaining. We are a cadre that has been trying to govern Turkey with the projects it has implemented since the day it was founded, the investments it has made, the vision it has set, and the goals it has set. Of course, those who see this are making a choice to do politics within the AK Party. We salute this. Look, our friends who have proven themselves to the friends who have come.
"WE DO NOT DO POLITICS BY BARGAINING"Does the People's Alliance have a problem forming a government right now? We don't do business through bargaining. It's not our style either. There is no situation that can be compared to what happened before. We have a 3-4 year period without elections ahead of us. Politics does not fit into legislation. People evaluate this with their goals. There is also change in other parties. Citizens immediately notice its purpose. There is a mechanism operating within a strong alliance here. We are talking about friends who say 'Let me contribute too'. There is a desire to contribute to the vision, project and program here. If you try to limit the will in legislation, you cannot get results. This has been done before. People resigned, founded other parties and merged parties. You set out with a party. They changed their minds the moment you set out. Can they tell an MP that you have to stay there? I find such discussions unnecessary. When we look at the equipment of our friends who joined the AK Party and the People's Alliance in the places they are in, the fact that these people are here is a contribution to both Turkey and everyone.
I have been saying that we have been carrying out stability and change together in the lists of MPs when we have been going to each congress. Turkey has come to these days by making the reforms and regulations that Turkey has really needed for 22 years, parallel to the developments and changes in the world. The AK Party has taken the reforms one after the other, started the EU negotiations, made the constitutional reform, made the markets more trustworthy with the laws. When the AK Party was founded, Turkey had received 15 billion dollars of foreign capital until then. After that, during the AK Party governments, it attracted 22 billion dollars in 1 year. A total of over 260 billion dollars of foreign capital. We have taken Turkey to the upper group in the ranking of middle-income countries. It is currently in the upper middle-income countries group. So where do we want to take it? To the high-income group. Now we will make the reforms one after the other and take Turkey to the high-income countries group. This is our goal. Our President expressed these both at the congress and after the cabinet meeting. The basic policy of the AK Party in Turkey is to ensure that Turkey continues on its path by making regulations and reforms that will put it among the 10 most powerful and developed countries in the world in every field.
"TUSIAD'S POLITICAL RECORD IS NOT CLEAN"TÜSİAD is a business association. Of course, it has an important place in Turkey's business world. However, TÜSİAD's political record is not clean. Whenever it found a gap, it evaluated the possibility of non-political interventions in politics. This was successful in the old Turkey. Now, at the stage we have brought, tutelage centers have been removed in Turkey. Look at TUSİAD's statement. No one said anything about the part about the economy. Their business is production. There is no criticism about what they said in this area. What kind of duty and responsibility do TÜSİAD have as businessmen regarding the investigation into military discipline in the General Staff? So, instead of demanding more production and more exports, they are expressing their opinions in a field that has nothing to do with them, and they are expressing their opinions and speaking loudly about a matter that should be handled entirely by the state institution within its own rules. Why do lieutenants, who are under the authority of the General Staff and Land Forces, which are carried out by the Ministry of National Defense, make statements about what decisions will be made and what will happen? All over the world, military issues are investigated and concluded within the military. What does this have to do with the business world?
In the past, in such issues, they used the language of intervention in politics, appearing to be on the side of democracy rather than democracy. Now, another version of this has been put on the market. We are the party that fought against so many tutelage focuses and brought them to Turkey. Both the President and we know very well what the words mean. We have not reacted strongly to their assessments regarding the economy. Why would a statement be made on a subject concerning the internal discipline of the TSK?
"INVESTIGATION INTO TÜSİAD EXECUTIVES"We are dealing with the administration of Turkey in a region that has turned into a fire with 85 million people. We cannot take part in the work of civil servants and the judiciary by discussing everything every day and looking at it on a case-by-case basis. The people there decide on the issue. Duties and authorities are carried out, if there is a mistake, the opposing parties object with their lawyers, and the mechanism works. These discussions reduce politics to cases, and then Turkey loses time. Here, taking a very serious initiative, 'let's address the issues that will carry Turkey forward'. If we address each issue on a case-by-case basis, we cannot get out of here. It would be wrong.
"WE DEFEND ADVANCED DEMOCRACY"Our basic approach is that Turkey has an advanced democracy. We have made significant progress. In this country, the most basic rights and freedoms, freedom of belief, thought and initiative were restricted. Children were kept waiting at university gates, mothers and fathers were not accepted into the military. These were remedied with the opportunities and reforms offered by politics. Our President and we constantly express that Turkey needs to achieve advanced democracy. We bring the constitution and system change to the agenda. We wish that the opposition also contributes to this and we bring Turkey together with an advanced democracy. Especially the CHP, when a problem arises, shows the AK Party, our President and us as the address of the problem. They do not come when we invite them for a solution. The people are tired of them and do not show favor. What solution proposal do you put forward? It is also possible for oligarchic structures to form by being fed by the state and being from the business world, on the other hand, it is possible to slide into populism by constantly making false promises. It is possible to proceed correctly between these two mistakes by advancing in the corridor of democracy. We say, let's change the September 12 Constitution radically, let's bring it together with a constitution that guarantees rights and freedoms and combines them with fundamental rights and freedoms that enable Turkey to function better. We should create an opportunity here and bring it together with Türkiye's goals.
Since we came to Turkey, which rights and freedoms have we made arrangements that will bring Turkey back? Precautions are one thing, politics is another. When you look at where the AK Party has brought Turkey in general, they are policies. There are some daily incidents and you take precautions. When the AK Party came to power, Turkey was in the heavy atmosphere of 28 February. People could not say hello to each other in their own languages. Today, there is Kurdish broadcasting on television 24 hours a day, and broadcasting in other native languages. Everyone complains about the content of the televisions. They want better quality broadcasting. The coefficient problem is that people choose the Quran and the Biography as elective courses in learning their languages. There has been change and transformation in many areas. Of course, we say a new Constitution to do better. Sometimes demands take precedence over reality. I think this is what is happening in Turkey. The new generation rightfully demands more. We want this too. That is why we say let's change the system. There are many question marks in the freedom environment that is also felt in the world after the social media revolution. Some segments of society are completely irresponsibly blowing away some freedoms, while others are completely against it. We are doing everything we can to prevent the complicated situation in the world from happening in Turkey. We desire more democracy, but democracy is not irresponsibility, swearing at people, or insulting them.
"DEMOCRACY IS NOT RESPONSIBILITY"People need to both feel freedom and use it. In Turkey, most of the issues currently being discussed under the name of freedom of thought are either insults, curses or threats. These are not freedom of thought. In the Gezi Park case, attempts were made to overthrow the government, these are in the files. They cannot receive any protection in the world under the name of freedom of thought.
"OUR esteemed PRESIDENT DOES NOT INTERRUPT ANYONE'S SPEAK"In our meetings, everyone voices their suggestions, whatever they think. We discuss them. Our President has a very important characteristic; he does not interrupt people. He listens to the end. Other friends voice their own ideas and eventually a decision is reached. This is the main reason why we say let's make reforms in many areas.
"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OBSTRUCTION"After the municipal elections, 15-16 million people are waiting for services in Istanbul. The elections took place and the discussions started the next day. Presidential candidacy. There were still 5 years left for the presidential candidacy at that time. There is no such thing as a problem, lawsuit or obstruction regarding municipal services. When discussions about their own private areas such as insults or diplomas come to the agenda, we see efforts to evade the courts and take them to the political arena. When a matter concerning themselves comes to the agenda, they immediately take it to the political arena. As if they are trying to hide behind the curtain that these things happened because of their political identities. There is no answer to anything you ask about municipal services. Whenever internal party conflicts come to the agenda, suspicions are brought up by their party leaders. Whenever these things come to the agenda, they make a fuss saying 'there is political interference'. This does not suit Turkey. Politics requires seriousness. It requires effort and respect. As soon as a mayor is elected, it is necessary not to engage in childish things the next day. Turkey's time is being wasted with these discussions.
Let's say it's time for the presidential elections in Turkey. Is İmamoğlu the only rival candidate? What kind of logic is this? He was elected as the mayor. Instead of doing his job as mayor, he gets caught on vacation when an incident occurs, insults someone when he's about to give a speech, and takes it to another area. The judiciary has procedures. Has his appeal rights been taken away from him in the judiciary? What does this have to do with other parties? Why don't they continue with their own procedures whenever they face a case and take it to the political arena? The presidential elections are not a place to cover up anyone's faults or mistakes. How many years until the presidential elections?
"IS THE PRESIDENT EXPECTING SERVICE FOR ISTANBUL?"We are not doing politics to realize all the projects of the opposition. We are doing politics to realize Turkey's projects. If he is using this seat for the presidential election, I say he is being unfair and disrespectful to the office of the presidency and also being very disrespectful and unfair to his own voters. No matter what he encounters, he is showing Mr. President as responsible. It is quite natural for our Mr. President to say this. He has not been addressed for a very long time. He said it that day. He actually exposed something. He is saying the services he did not do, he is hanging his posters. Our Mr. President is in love with Istanbul. As the head of state, he wants the mayor to serve Istanbul. He brought this country to a certain point by working day and night and is trying to bring it to its goals.
"THE SYSTEM WE IMPLEMENT HAS BEEN GETTING RESULTS FOR 22 YEARS"When our President first became a candidate, all parties united. We are currently talking about service to Turkey. Service brings success after it. We start serving after receiving the votes. We fulfill our promises. We go to the people and make promises again. That's what we did. The system we are implementing is not broken, it is the right method and it has been getting results for 22 years. We are talking about Turkey, Turkey's issues. These are also getting results. Research is being done, how we can get more votes means how we can produce more services. We always talk about these.
Habertürk
