ANKARA: President Recep Erdoğan attended the International Investors Consultation Meeting organized by the International Investors Association (YASED) and Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Gülenist Terror Group’s (FETÖ) coup attempt on July 15. During his address, the president emphasized that Turkey maintained the environment of stability and confidence as the country drew $3.6 billion of direct foreign investment in the first four months of this year.
Recalling that they gathered for the first time on Aug. 2, approximately two weeks after the July 15 coup attempt last year, President Erdoğan noted that at this meeting, he shared details of the military coup and said that the future was bright in spite of this negativity, describing developments in the economy. He also noted that despite the Gezi events and FETÖ’s attacks on Dec. 17-25, 2013 ended with a growth rate of 8.5 percent. Erdoğan pointed out that despite elections of local administrations followed by the presidential elections in 2014, a growth rate of 5.2 percent was achieved, adding that even with two general elections and the upsurge in terrorist attacks in 2015, those behind these set-ups were confronted with a growth rate of 6.1 percent.
Noting that a growth rate of 2.9 percent was achieved last year despite July 15, the most painful tragedy in recent history, and the intense fighting against terrorism inside and outside Turkey’s borders, Erdoğan said that those who were hoping Turkey’s democracy and economy would be destroyed were disappointed. “We can say that we showed very good economic performance in 2017. Our 5 percent growth rate in the first quarter gave us hope. I believe we will complete this year with a growth rate well above expectations,” he added. Informing the audience that export figures had continued their uptrend with an increase of 8.2 percent in the first 6 months of the year, Erdoğan pointed out that the unemployment rate is leaning towards single digits in parallel with the recovery in the economy as well as the mobilization initiated with TOBB.
