Winds of change in Turkey

A new dawn has arrived for the AK Party with the handover of duties from Ahmet Davutoglu to Binali Yildirim. According to Yildirim’s words, this new era will be a period of change vis-a-vis urbanization, globalization, innovation and improvement in the country’s infrastructure, economy, trade and foreign relations.

Our new PM Yildirim has been recorded as a man of action during his twelve years of power as a minister of transport and communications. Individually he is very hard working and a well-adjusted team player; he is a man of goals and projects making sure that they are completed timely, and he is also very well-known known for his witty remarks. One of his important characteristics is that he is calm and cool while executing very large projects.  It is a specific trait that has attained him notoriety amongst his colleagues and ministers.   Some of the projects he completed include:

* 17,500-kilometer long dual carriageway between the years 2003-2013

* In 2002, the number of 26 active airports increased to 55

* Marmaray project that combines Asia and Europe by undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait

* 3rd Bosphorus Bridge named “Yavuz Sultan Selim” in Istanbul combining Asia to Europe

* Istanbul-Izmir highway and Osman Gazi Bridge (aka Izmit Bay Bridge), it will be the fourth-longest suspension bridge of the world by the length of its central span

*  Istanbul’s 3rd airport which will be one of the greatest in the world

* Candarli Port, one of the biggest container ports in Europe

* 1,213 kilometer long high speed railway construction, renewal of the 9,350 kilometer long conventional railway

* Turkey’s 15% growth in aviation industry while the global growth is only 5%

The list will go on for good. During his era as the new prime minister, he will focus on economics as we can guess from the AK Party members elected for the MKYK (Central Decision Board) with the majority economy-rooted. Therefore, Turkey is expecting to encounter radical economic reforms. He will shift more towards an understanding of growth and be investment oriented. A special “substructure fund” will be established for this purpose. The number of foreign students will increase with the help of supplementary incentives in universities. Also, a qualified workforce flow to Turkey will be encouraged during his power.

PM Yildirim’s statements regarding foreign policy give a clue that important advances will occur, “We’ll increase the number of our friends and we’ll decrease the number of our enemies. The history gives us very important responsibilities. We’ll either discharge this responsibility today or we’ll forever feel the sin of the disappointment in our hearts.” It is important for Turkey to improve the relations with neighboring countries and normalize relations with the countries it has issues with such as its long-term former friend Russia. Additionally, since Turkey and Iran are two key players in the region, they should focus on finding new ways of collaboration. They can be more than friends or brothers under the favor of collaboration agreements and mutual visits, which will produce a very positive impact for the others. Both can lift the visas and form an exemplary alliance. 

History changes around the clock

The governments and politicians always change what always remains is solidarity and friendship. Sometimes politicians fall into the trap of imitating what was done in history with the belief that history repeats itself. However, history does not necessarily repeat itself, our present world changes constantly. Systems usually change over time. If politicians find themselves making the same mistakes like the others before them, they are doomed to fail.  Usually it is because they act emotionally with the biases carried over from the past. Our world should always move ahead to a bright future with lots of positive changes. Our era is one of science, solidarity, love, reason, and faith. Triumph only comes with faith and solidarity; there is no other way of achieving it.

Adnan Oktar's piece in Tehran Times:

http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/403093/Winds-of-change-in-Turkey