President Erdoğan pledges 2021 to be year of reforms

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pledged or Dec. 31 to make 2021 a year of reforms saying that the government is in preparation to take steps to polish up the country's democracy and strengthen its economy in the new year.

"We are in the preparations for reforms that will strengthen our economy and raise the bar of our democracy, rights, and freedoms. Hopefully, with the new year, we will present our comprehensive reform programs, for which we have made the last arrangements, to the discretion of our nation," the president said in his New Year message on Dec. 31.

The government has brought many investments to Turkey in a wide range such as the defense industry, culture, and arts, agriculture, foreign trade, transportation, and energy, Erdoğan said in a written statement.

"We see the 6.7 percent growth rate we achieved in the third quarter as a sign of both our efforts, the success of our country in this process, and the strong potential in the new period," he stated.

The president made a call on to the public for compliance with measures against the novel coronavirus on New Year's Eve as the world continues to grapple with the pandemic. "I want every member of my nation to support the fight to overcome the pandemic by following the rules, especially on New Year's Eve," Erdoğan noted.

Noting that the pandemic was likely to continue for some more time, Erdoğan said: "We are preparing our country for this uncertain future by attaching importance to efforts for vaccine supply."

On Turkey's efforts to support its economy during the pandemic, Erdoğan said the size of all stimulus packages that the country had enacted since the beginning of the outbreak had reached 10 percent of the national income.

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