ATATURKISM CAN BE ACHIEVED NOT BY PREACHING BUT BY WORKING

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said, "We are not preaching about Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk like others, we are striving to attain his objectives."

Bagis delivered a speech during his visit to AK Party election office in Dalaman district of Mugla and in his speech he indicated that they became the hope of everyone in Turkey in their 7th year of government. Bagis said, "When we evaluate 7 years, we see that we have great stories of success to tell. We are not one of those parties which are 80 years old and which have nothing to tell despite being in power either alone or as a government partner for 80 years. We are a 7 year old party; however, AK Party built half of the schools which were established through the history of the Republic."

Noting that European Union negotiations started during their term, Bagis said, "In the same year, we also assumed the General Secretariat of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. In other words, we extended one of our arms to the East and the other arm to the West. The co-chairmanship of the Alliance of Civilizations Project which is the most important peace project in the world was offered to our Prime Minister, to our Party Leader."

Reminding that after a 47-year interval Turkey became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, which is the most important decision-making authority in the world, receiving 152 votes from 191 various voting countries of every continent, Bagis stated,

"We are not preaching about Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk like others, we are striving to attain his objectives. Ataturkism can't be achieved by preaching. Ataturkism can be achieved by constructing more roads, schools and hospitals, by preparing the young for a better future, by attaching importance to education and by building more dams and airports for this country.

Bagis also visited AK Party election office in Yerkesik town of Mugla and in his speech there he indicated that Turkey today was not a country as it was in the past. He talked about the developments in and steps taken towards democratisation and said, "Turkey is no more a country whose leaders are hanged following the military coups. Turkey is a country of real democracy. Turkey is no more a state governed by the illegal organizations. Turkey is a country governed by the democratic ruling party that represents the will of the nation."

In his speech touching upon, also, the atmosphere of crisis in the world, Bagis said "We have provided such an economic infrastructure that, I would like to ask you: Has any bank gone bankrupt? The answer is no. All the banks in Turkey made profit as of the end of 2008."

Bagis also paid a visit to the election office in Koycegiz district of Mugla.

Resource: AA