Turkish Premier Erdogan addresses nation

ANKARA (A.A) – August 28, 2011 – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed nation on Sunday.
Erdogan celebrated holy Ramadan month of Turkish people, Islamic world and all humanity, and said that such holy days strengthened the ties among people.
Noting that Turkey was faced with a Somalia test in this Ramadan month, Erdogan said that Turkey did not remain silent to the humanity tragedy in Somalia. He added that 74 million Turkish people used every means possible to help Somali people.
Erdogan said that Turkish Prime Ministry took action immediately after it foresaw that the condition in Somalia would become bad, and initiated an assistance campaign under a circular.
Many people and non-governmental organizations joined this campaign in the most effective ways, said Erdogan adding that high amount of assistance had been transferred to the region immediately.
Noting that he and a delegation comprised of ministers, businessmen, non-governmental organizations and musicians as well as journalists visited Somalia recently, Erdogan said that they tried to share pains of people and meet their needs. He added that assistance of Turkish International Cooperation & Development Agency (TIKA), Health Ministry and Red Crescent aid society was continuing in the region.
He expressed hope that the number of tents set up by Red Crescent in the region would increase to 2,000 soon.
Recalling that members of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened in Istanbul upon a call by Turkey last week, Erdogan said that participant countries committed to extend 350 million USD of assistance to Somalia.
If Somalia is in starvation and thirst and cannot save its children from diseases and malnutrition today, its reason is that developed countries consumed the resources of this country, said Erdogan.
Erdogan said that Turkey would support peace, solidarity, consensus and closeness among societies in every international matter.
Commenting on terrorist acts in Turkey, Erdogan said that Turkey was in a new period in fight against terrorism, adding that air strikes and efforts of Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) as well as special security forces in combatting terrorism would continue.
We will reach a peace milieu by increasing the standards of democracy and law, he said.
Noting that the government took big and sincere steps to spread democracy and develop freedoms, Erdogan said that the government, on a common basis shared by all political parties, was determined to prepare a more liberal constitution.
Regarding the incidents in Syria, Erdogan said that a regime could not survive by killing people, adding that the only way was to lay down weapons and listen to the demands of people.
We have seen the fate of those, who did not choose this way, in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, said Erdogan, adding that democracy and freedom were the legitimate demands of people.
There is no place for single-man rule, dictatorial regimes and closed societies in today's world, said Erdogan. He added that Turkey reminded this to the administrations in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya previously, and to Syria and Yemen administrations today.
Noting that a new page was opened for Libyan people, Erdogan said that Turkey exerted utmost efforts to help the region restore peace as soon as possible.
Commenting on recent economic developments, Erdogan said that while the world was struggling against heavy economic crises, Turkey, on the contrary, was developing and growing on a sound basis each day. He added that Turkish economy was the fastest growing one among OECD countries.
We are not only managing the economic crisis successfully but also continuing our investments to build the future of Turkey, said Erdogan.