“OUR CITIZENS FULFILLED THEIR DUTIES WITH A RECORD HIGH TURNOUT” Drawing attention to the high turnout in the presidential elections, President Erdoğan stressed that both of the two rounds of the elections were held with democratic maturity, and noted: “Our citizens fulfilled their duties with a record high turnout without allowing any regrettable incident to occur. The voter turnout neared 90 percent. I pray to Allah that the election results may be auspicious for our nation and our business community. I extend my most heartfelt gratitude to each and every citizen who showed their preferences at the ballot boxes by democratic means. I particularly congratulate our citizens living abroad who made us proud with the high voter turnout.” “WE WILL REVIVE ALL THE QUAKE-HIT CITIES” Now that the uncertainties caused by the election atmosphere have disappeared, the country can focus on the real issues on the agenda, the President pointed out, stressing that the government already set to work as of yesterday as an administration that once again had won the vote of the confidence.  Assuring that the sufferings of quake victims will not be allowed to be deepened for whatever reason, President Erdoğan said: “We will revive all the quake-hit cities in a more secure and more gracious manner than before as soon as possible.” Underlining that it is the government’s top priority to heal the wounds caused by the February 6 twin earthquakes, President Erdoğan reminded that quake victims were not neglected during the election campaign and that cities in the quake zone were visited three or four times throughout the campaign period. Over 910 thousand tents as well as over 117 thousand containers were set up and construction works have already begun for nearly 180 thousand post-quake houses so far, stated President Erdoğan, noting that 650 thousand residences would be built in the quake zone, 319 of them within a year. “WE WILL WORK TO RESTORE PEACE AND STABILITY IN OUR REGION” Stressing determination to take steps to compensate for the loss of welfare experienced by some segments of the society, President Erdoğan said: “We are strictly committed to our policy of not allowing our citizens to be crushed by inflation. We have not made any concessions on this issue throughout our 21 years in power.” President Erdoğan went onto say: “It was us who had lowered inflation, which had plagued the Turkish economy for years, to single-digit figures, thereby easing our people’s burden. We will achieve the same in the new period as well. We will inshallah see together positive ramifications as the fluctuations in global economy calm down.” President Erdoğan said: “Taking more initiatives for the settlement of crises in our near environs, we will work to restore peace and stability in our region. Besides our diplomatic ties, we will also strengthen our economic and trade relations with the countries of the region. As of yesterday night, we held talks with the leaders of nearly 110 countries, either through telephone diplomacy or via messages. Our consensus with all of them is that we will further strengthen our unity in every area including politics, military, economy, trade and culture. This is the promise. The parliament has already taken shape, and once the cabinet is also formed, we will immediately start visits. Likewise, there are also world leaders who will visit our country. Our goal is to establish a belt of peace and security in our environment, stretching from Europe to the Black Sea, Caucasus to Middle East to North Africa. We have already taken many major steps in this direction in recent years. We have ironed out problems with the friendly and brotherly countries. We have reinforced our bonds with the Turkic world. We have advanced our relations with the Islamic world. We have opened a new window to Asia through our initiative Asia Anew. We have built solid cooperations with the African peoples on a win-win basis.” “WE WILL MAKE TÜRKİYE THE RISING STAR OF ITS REGION” Türkiye consolidated its presence in Latin America, developed close relations with all sides in the Balkans, and enhanced the dialogue with Western countries in line with shared interests, the President stated. Stressing that Türkiye also shared the burden for the settlement of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, President Erdoğan said: “With the grain shipment and prisoner exchange deals, we have shown that a diplomatic solution is possible. Most importantly, we have prevented Türkiye from becoming a party to a conflict that would end in disaster. In other words, we have worked to boost our cooperation with all countries by keeping one leg of the compass fixed in our country while making a 360-degree maneuver with the other. In the current period, we will continue our entrepreneurial foreign policy by supporting it with trade, energy, tourism, culture and defense. We are determined to make Türkiye the rising star of its region. We will inshallah achieve this together, as we have done over the past 21 years.” “WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK TIRELESSLY TO REMOVE THE OBSTACLES IN YOUR WAY” Noting that consultations and gatherings with the country’s business community will continue, President Erdoğan said: “We have reaped the fruits of these consultations together in every area. We have announced the good news for the resolution of many problems by means of these gatherings. We will continue to come together with you and take relevant steps in the new period as well. We will inshallah find a solution to the visa issue, which has been instrumentalized, so-to-speak, as a political blackmail in the recent period, as soon as possible. We will continue to work tirelessly to clear the path in front of you and remove the obstacles in your way.”