Turkey Expects Economy To Grow Despite Recent Protests

Turkey expects its economy to grow by 3.3 percent this year despite the recent violent protests in the country,  Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Economy Ali Babacan said Sunday.



Babacan made the remarks at a meeting of the provincial advisory councils in Turkey's western province of Izmir. 



"Despite all this troublesome period, Turkey grew by 4.1 percent last year, which is the highest in Europe," deputy he said. "We expect a 3.3-percent growth this year, which we guess will again be one of the highest in Europe."



He said the Turkish public and the business community remained confident about their country's progress. 



"All the international confidence indexes show us that the confidence of our citizens and businesspeople is the high tide of Turkey," he said.



He hinted that there were certain elements in and outside Turkey, who were "uncomfortable" with the country becoming "a symbol of peace" in the region.



Referring to the tensions in neighboring countries Syria and Iraq, the deputy prime minister said the ruling Justice and Development Party, or the AK Party, was moving towards ensuring the "stability of Turkey."



He urged Turkish citizens to remain calm against any provocation in the country and said there were efforts of driving Turkey into internal disorder with the latest Syrian town of Kobani issue. 



Recently, violent pro-Kurdish protests had broken out across Turkey under the pretext that Ankara was doing nothing to halt the advance of extremists pouring into Kobani just a few kilometers across the Turkish border.



The demonstrations left at least 38 people and two police officers dead along with scores of vehicles, state buildings, party offices and shops damaged.



On Saturday, three soldiers, Sergeant Ramazan Gulle and Private Officers Yunus Yilmaz and Ramazan Kose were killed by masked men in Turkey's southeastern province of Hakkari. 



"These are all assassination of Turkey's inner peace and environment of confidence," Babacan said. 



He also touched on the country's "solution process" which is a Turkish-government effort launched two years ago to bring an end to the decades-long conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, U.S., EU and NATO. 



"The solution process means that all Turkish citizens regardless of their ethnicity and religions will be able to benefit from the fundamental rights and freedoms, and will have a voice in the democratic system."



He stressed that all citizens can live in peace and tranquility under his party's "one state, one flag, one homeland, one nation" motto. 



www.aa.com.tr/en - İzmir