“Defense Industry Contributes to Growing Current Account Deficit”
AK Party’s Deputy Candidate from Ankara, Fuat Oktay, recently made several evaluations about the political agenda in a live broadcast on Ülke TV. Oktay noted that they are striving to finish the election in the first round and that the feedback they received from the field supports their expectations. He emphasized that trust and stability are crucial for Turkey’s future and the country’s development.
Oktay also highlighted that nearly 1.2 million people cast their votes abroad, surpassing the total number of voters in 2018, and the current number stands at 3.4 million voters, including 277k new voters. He stated that this motivates their voters more, especially given the developments in Turkey, the turmoil in the opposition, and the evident threats against the country from both inside and outside.
Answering a question about Turkey’s elections being the most crucial ones worldwide, according to foreign press, Oktay explained that Turkey’s foreign policies made it a target country for the West, mostly concerning the Balkans, Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. He claimed that Turkey’s opposition comes from the fact that the West aims to restructure those regions to create a new terrorist state close to Turkey, which is the obstacle for the West. Hence, Turkey delays the restructuring, conflicts arise, and France feels hostility towards Turkey due to its interest in Africa.
Oktay stated that their party’s primary goal is to create an environment of stability and trust, particularly concerning the economy, in the medium and long-term. During the pandemic, there were several disruptions in the markets and supply chains that turned into unexpected behaviors, price, and inflation increases. Instead of hiking interest rates to fight inflation, they took a different approach. The method they employed is termed “growth through investment, employment, production, exports, and current surplus.” This policy aims to increase production steadily, especially regarding the defense industry, energy, localization, and nationalization to reduce current account deficit. They also temporarily set an upper limit of 25% in rent increases, and they rapidly increased housing production to ensure the security of housing supply.
Finally, Oktay emphasized that Turkey aims to establish a structural transformation and security of supply in the food industry. They have brought contractual production in agriculture to the agenda since this method would prevent fluctuations in food supply and establish a “win-win” relationship for both the farmer and the consumer. Ultimately, Oktay asserted that the opposition cannot bring about any transformation and change, and instead, they are already making the change by instituting policies that lead to growth, development, and independence in foreign policy within their own country.
