Turkey proves growth possible even amid security problems: Erdoğan

Turkey has proved that it can grow despite security problems, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a speech on Dec. 26, mentioning that the country was now classified as a high-income country by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. 

Turkey is set to move on despite challenges inside and outside the country, Erdoğan said in a video comment at the opening of a road tunnel which connects Turkey's Black Sea with Central Anatolia.
  
"Certainly we have some challenges. We have not forgotten the heinous July 15 coup bid. We have not forgotten the losses. We have not forgotten our martyrs and veterans. We have not forgotten the sacrifices made in the fight against terror," he said, according to Anadolu Agency. 

"But all of these circumstances did not change the fact that Turkey keeps developing and growing. Turkey is a country which has proved that it is possible to grow even amid security concerns," said Erdoğan, adding that nobody could prevent Turkey from reaching its 2023 economic goals. 

"The series of inauguration ceremonies which started with the Osmangazi Bridge in June and continued with the opening of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and Eurasia Tunnel recently continued with Ilgaz's July 15 Liberty Tunnel," named after the defeat of this summer's failed coup, he also said.        

"In 2002 Turkey had 83 highway tunnels. Over the last 14 years, we have added 183 new tunnels to this number," he said, stressing that they were fully committed to the country's 2023 centennial vision targets.