Turkey's Pm: 'Service To The Country İs Our Cause'

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at an extended meeting of the AK Party's provincial chairpeople Friday, said that "the presidential election is one of the important symbols of the new Turkey and the president will be elected by popular vote for the first time in our history. A new Turkey will automatically create its new opposition." 



Erdogan, at the meeting to set down the direction and guidelines for the upcoming August presidential elections, in Ankara, added "We are on a long and difficult way in the service of a great cause and death is the only limit on this path."



Looking back on the local election results, which saw many triumphs for the AK Party, Erdogan stated that "the racist mentality is totally bankrupted and its hopes for a coup have vanished. The ballot box and democracy declared their sovereignty on March 30."



Stressing that the election results were a smackdown of the opposition and a collapse of politics based on things such as defaming cassettes and immorality Erdogan continued saying, "The opposition relied on non-democratic means and attacked state institutions because its aim was to drag the AK Party below 30 percent of the votes. They crossed all ethical limits to achieve their goal. Our democracy and Republic have left behind one of the most difficult elections of our history. None of the previous elections was so difficult."



"My deceived brethren don't be trapped because the ruling AK Party has put its body and soul at stake. We are the party which has rescued thousands of Uyghur Turks from executions by granting them citizenships," said Erdogan, discussing the persecution the ethnic group has faced in the Autonomous Uyghur Region of Xinjiang as it seeks independence from the People's Republic of China.



englishnews@aa.com.tr - Ankara