Speaking at the opening ceremony of İyidere-İkizdere road and tunnels, Erdoğan said: “Regardless of the circumstances, we have always worked with all our strength to keep up the democratic and economic development momentum of Turkey.”

Thanking everyone, who had contributed to the project, Erdoğan said: “The İyidere-İkizdere road is approximately 38 kilometers long. One of the tunnels in Hurmalık is 850 meters and the other one is 720 meters long. The access roads are 3.6 kilometers long.”

Noting that the İyidere-İkizdere road was located on one of the most important routes in the Caucasus Corridor, stretching from Europe to Central Asia, Erdoğan said: “Similarly, this project is one of the most critical parts of the North-South transportation axis, linking Rize and Mardin.”

Pointing to the attempts to stir up social chaos, terror attacks, political and economic plots, coup attempts that took place in Turkey in the past 7-8 years, and more recently the pandemic and natural disasters, Erdoğan said: “We have worked with our nation and overcome these problems one by one. And we have especially paid attention to one thing during these years. Regardless of the circumstances, we have always worked with all our strength to keep up the democratic and economic development momentum of Turkey.”

“Our export volume reached an all-time high”

“With its growth rate of 21.7 percent in the second quarter, the Turkish economy is the second fastest-growing economy in the world after the UK. Yesterday, we started the day with the good news that our export volume reached all-time high. Our export volume reached $18.9 billion in August, $140.2 billion in the first 8 months of 2021, and $207.5 billion annually, which reaffirmed our growth rates. In employment, we have neared a level that exceeds the pre-pandemic period and surpassed 29 million.”