Addressing the 12th Transport and Communication Forum, Erdoğan said: “The strong infrastructure of democracy and development we have founded in the past 19 years provides us with a great advantage in attaining the position we aim for in the global administrative and economic system, which has entered a process of restructuring.”

Noting that Atatürk Airport, which had represented Turkey in aviation for long years, is now hosting the most inclusive and important international organization of the transport industry, Erdoğan said: “Atatürk Airport, which also hosted TEKNOFEST, the biggest technology festival of the world, will continue to host fairs, events, and competitions at the national and international level in the future as well.”

Erdoğan stated: “12 years ago, in 2009, we held the 10th Transport Forum with the motto, ‘Target 2023’. And today, on the cusp of 2023, we are discussing again the current and future state of the transport and communication industries. Given the headway we have made related to these investments, which constitute the fundamental basis of development, it is seen that we have covered a great distance. Most of the topics that we laid out as a vision and target in the past, are now before us as completed projects.”

“The world is on the threshold of a major change”

Underlining that global crises, bitter ramifications of which have recently become more visible in the form of migration and climate change, impose their own realities, Erdoğan stressed that this situation leads to significant changes and new orientations in the transport and communication industries along with in other areas.

“Behind almost all the major changes throughout the history of humanity lie such developments as climate change and the emergence of transport alternatives, which we have recently started to discuss again. When the issue is addressed from this perspective, we see that the world is on the threshold of a new and major change,” the President said. “We will have done an auspicious job for humanity’s common future if we, as countries and societies, can analyze this process correctly and fulfill our responsibilities justly.”

“We are determined to benefit from the opportunities in front of with new investments”

Warning that a new, painful and costly era of chaos is awaiting humanity unless that collective conscience can be mobilized, Erdoğan noted: “As the residents of this beautiful region, which has been consolidating its position as a hub in every area extending from production to logistics, we are prepared to contribute more to humanity.”

Inviting all the friendly and brotherly countries to join forces with Turkey in that big initiative, Erdoğan said: “The strong infrastructure of democracy and development we have founded in the past 19 years provides us with a great advantage in attaining the position we aim for in the global administrative and economic system, which has entered a process of restructuring.”

Erdoğan continued as follows: “We are determined to benefit from the opportunities in front of us both by using our existing infrastructure in the most efficient manner and by further expanding it through new investments. We want to enhance the opportunities of cooperation by showing our means and capabilities to those who still consider our country to be the former Turkey. Our difference from many other countries is that we seek to win not for us alone but rather win together. We approach our friends in all the regions from Africa to Asia with this offer and take our steps with this understanding.”