Erdoğan vows to protect Türkiye from regional conflicts

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated that his government is making every effort to protect Türkiye from being dragged into regional conflicts, unlike the opposition whose sole preoccupation is to launch new in-house rifts every other day.

“What this brother of yours cares about is ensuring that Türkiye receives the respect it deserves in the global arena. What this brother of yours is trying to do is protect Türkiye from the ring of fire and conflicts in the region,” Erdoğan told a rally during his visit to the Black Sea coastal town of Rize on Sept. 11.

Erdoğan arrived in his hometown on late Sept.10 for a three-day Black Sea visit. In Rize, he attended the opening ceremony of newly completed investments worth of total 3 billion Turkish Liras, including a residential complex, public gardens and educational facilities.

“The agenda of others may be different. They may ignore the demands of the people and engage in internal rifts all the time. But we have no such luxury because we are responsible for you and future generations,” Erdoğan said.

The president noted that they don’t care what the opposition is saying, doing or discussing internally, stressing “We are only bothered with serving the nation; not only in Rize but in 81 provinces.”

The responsibility of the government towards the people is excessive and needs to be focused at all times Erdoğan said, underlining that they are tirelessly working to keep Türkiye away from regional conflicts.

Erdoğan referred to overlapping geopolitical crises — specifically the ongoing war in Ukraine and escalating military conflicts involving Israel, Iran and the United States — have effectively turned the surrounding region into a “ring of fire.”

“We came to power to serve you and we’ll deliver this as long as this soul remains in this body,” he stated.

In his initial statement in Rize late on Sept. 10, he also signaled a successful outcome in the upcoming elections.