Erdoğan says gov’t committed to stronger Turkish democracy

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday the government knows it can no longer postpone clearing the clouds over Turkish democracy and that it is committed to moving forward in this direction.

“We cannot walk toward the future if justice and freedoms remain up for debate. We cannot continue on our path if faith and opinions are kept under pressure. Turkey has to face up to its realities and should do it in a fair way,” Erdoğan said in his address to the nation on the occasion of Kurban Bayram, or the Feast of the Sacrifice.

Recalling that the government launched a democratic initiative aimed at equalizing the democratic standards of the country and ending the terror problem, Erdoğan said: “We believe that the solution to all sorts of problems can be found through a functioning democracy. We’ll of course continue our efficient struggle against those who choose terror as a means. But we will not concede Turkey’s integrity.”

Hinting that the state had also used some illegal means in its fight against terror in the past, Erdoğan promised that they would clear this darkness within the state and make it more credible and stable.

Erdoğan said the government was also planning to enact measures to change the social and economic conditions of the country that are believed to be the root causes of terrorism. “We will terminate all sorts of discriminatory practices and initiatives that hurt societal harmony. We’ll establish democracy, justice, equality and freedom in their purest forms,” he said. He also described the democratic initiative of the government as an open-ended process.