"SOLVING PROBLEMS IS A BINDING DUTY FOR US"

AK Party Foreign Affairs Department carried out the XI th AK Party Foreign Affairs Regional Meeting, on 14th of June 2008, in Diyarbakır, with the participation of the AK Party Adiyaman, Elazıg, Mardin, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Tunceli County Organizations under the leadership of AK Party Vice Chairman in Charge of Foreign Affairs, Egemen Bagis.

AK Party Vice Chairman and Istanbul Deputy Egemen Bagis, and the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) Foreign Affairs Commission Chairman and Eskisehir Deputy H. Murat Mercan delivered speech at the meeting, on the " Foreign Policy of the AK Party and the openings made in the Turkish Foreign Policy".

AK Party Diyarbakır Deputies Kutbettin Arzu, Ali İhsan Merdanoğlu, AK Party Mardin Deputies Mehmet Halit Demir and Gönül Bekin Şahkulubey, Mardin Mayor Metin Pamukçu, Diyarbakır Provincial Chairman Abdürrahim Hattapoğlu and many other party members participated to the meeting.

Egemen Bagis who started his speech by bringing the best regards and affections of the Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan to the people of Diyarbakir, said: "The opposition misinforms the public. We organize these meetings in order to give correct information to our party machinery and our public, and avoid the slanders of the opposition. While we are struggling to solve the problems of the country, we saw that the opposition is giving false messages to the public. They are trying to brainwash people with untruths and slanders by saying that ‘South-Eastern region is sold to the Israelis, they sold Cyprus, and they handed over the country to the European Union'. So, we explain the truths to our public via these meetings".

"WE CHANGED THE FORTUNE OF THE REGION"

Saying, "The people of the South-Eastern region and Diyarbakır 60% of which voted for the AK Party gave these votes for us to be a remedy to their problems", Egemen Bagis noted that solving the problems of the region and Diyarbakir is a binding duty for them. Naming his belief that they will achieve the chance of serving to the people of Diyarbakir in the municipal services, Bagis stated: "Sometimes I look through the newspapers and I'm puzzled thinking whether Diyarbakir has a mayor or a showman. Because I did not hear of any service they have made, other than showing off to the national and international press. We have been wandering through the city since the morning. I could not reproach to Diyarbakir. This beutiful city which is the pearl of the Middle East needs a municipality which is cleaner and seeing a more developed service. The business of governing a city is our job."

Bagis mentioned that Turkish politicians coming to Diyarbakir have no right to claim ‘I will do this and that.', and added: "It is the end of words. Now is time for working. Since 2002, we as the AK Party, brought to the Eastern and South-eastern Anatolia 8 milliard New Turkish Liras of investment. We accomplished such investments as 26 thousands new classrooms, a boarding house of 170 thousands student capacity, 110 thousands sports facilities, 15 new universities, 212 health investments including 74 hospitals and side buildings. The number of midwifes and nurses exceeded 20 thousand. We rescued the lifes of 800 thousand children by giving financial aid to the families not being able to send their child to the school because of economic reasons. Mentioning that the Turkish economy is growing rapidly, Bagis uttered that in 2008 Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, and Sanliurfa will emerge as a centre of attraction.

"THE MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER TRIES TO CHANGE THE AGENDA"

Claiming that the CHP (Pepublican People's Party) leader Deniz Baykal is jealous of the fact that the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been welcomed by the people of Diyarbakir with a great enthusiasm, Bagis said "Because of jealousy, Baykal created a ‘bugging scandal claiming ‘My Secretary General is being bugged' just the next day for making Turkey forget the GAP (Southeastern Anatolia Project) Action Plan. Following the disclosure of the documents, when the two phone companies' records about the issue were publicly announced, CHP's bugging allegations turn into bitter comedy. Although Turkey is waiting at least an apology after Onder Sav's asperity about our beloved Prophet, they shamelessly are trying to whitewash themselves by making slanders, claiming ‘We are being bugged'.

"WE WILL KEEP ON MAKING THE RIGHT THINGS"

Bagis said: "We did nothing to be embarrassed in neither domestic nor foreign policy.", and he added: "We did not cause any crisis in this country. We still remember the day when a constitutional booklet was thrown by the President to the Prime Minister, ending up with the sudden increase of the interest rates to 8000%. Look at what difficult conditions our country is passing through. There are wars in our neighbouring countries, a closure case in our country, a global economic crisis in the world. Despite all these negative developments, our country keeps up its economy. We did nothing wrong, and will continue doing the right things".

"FOREIGNERS WILL QUEUE UP FOR TAKING TURKISH PASSPORT"

Claiming that "in 10 years time the most worthy passport in the world will be the Turkish one" Bagis added "People coming from different countries will queue up for taking our passport. This will be realized providing that we give up pestering each other, and do not be defeated to ourselves. We should give up being busy with each others' hair, clothing, school, food. We should love each other. We are that strong to overcome all these issues. There are urban legends about the purchase of immovables by foreigners. It is the Germans, the British, and the Greeks who are the foreigners purchasing property in our country the most. These people prefer sunny places such as Antalya and Mugla. It is completely an imaginary belief that Israelis purchase lands in the Southeast Anatolia. Citizens of Israel do not have even a single property in the GAP region."

WE HAVE HIT THE TERROR WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY

Egemen Bagis also refered to the crossborder operations of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) targeting the PKK terrorist organization. "Terror exists in this region since 1978, but following the 22 July elections, there emerged an increasing pressure on us for an armed operation in Iraq. For this operation, first of all, we got in touch with our interlocutors in Iraq, the Gulf countries, European Union member-states, and United Nations Security Council members. The process developed in such a way that, the leader of the North Iraq administration Barzani said ‘Turkey has the right for a limited operation'.

THERE IS A GREAT EXPECTATION FROM TURKEY FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) Foreign Affairs Commission Chairman H. Murat Mercan shares the view that the basic reason behind Turkey's increasing effect on foreign policy is the AK Party government.

Recording that Turkey has started to follow an active foreign policy around the region and the world under the framework of a certain vision rather than being not only busy with its internal affairs, Mercan stated, "The stability of the region depends on Iraq. The stability of the Middle East depends on the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and peaceful resolution of the Iranian issue. Regional countries have a great expectation from Turkey to contribute to the peace processes in the Middle East region.