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AzerNEWS Staff

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Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Turkiye is holding meetings across the country to explain to citizens the “Century of Turkiye” vision put forward by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Speaking at a press conference in Corum, Bayraktar said the meetings focus on explaining the ambitions and targets outlined under the Century of Turkiye vision, while also gathering citizens’ views and assessments.

“The Century of Turkiye vision is important in terms of demonstrating how what our AK Party has accomplished in Turkiye, with the last 24 years under our government, will evolve in the Century of Turkiye and what we want to achieve. Under the leadership of our President, Turkiye has truly accomplished nearly a century’s worth of work over the past 24 years,” Bayraktar said.

He emphasized that as Turkiye seeks to build a larger and stronger country, it is focusing on three key areas under the Century of Turkiye vision: the defense industry, a self-sufficient Turkiye in food, and energy independence.

“We have identified these three goals as our main objectives for the Century of Turkiye. Therefore, God willing, a Turkiye that has achieved these goals will become a much stronger and larger country with a greater voice in the world. That is the short summary of the Century of Turkiye,” Bayraktar said.

Referring to the “Terror-Free Turkiye” process, Bayraktar said lawmakers had taken a historic step.

“Indeed, our members of parliament have achieved a historic milestone here. In fact, during this period, we took a very important step in the Grand National Assembly of Turkiye with the law that received 467 ‘yes’ votes,” he said.

Bayraktar described Corum as one of the most important provinces in Turkiye’s fight against terrorism.

“We suffered very heavy losses and lost martyrs. But thanks to those martyrs, today we are able to discuss the National Unity and Fraternity Project here. I believe that with a ‘Terror-Free Turkiye,’ Turkiye will move to a very different point,” he said.

Bayraktar also discussed oil production in Gabar, in southeastern Turkiye.

“In September 2021, we made the largest oil discovery in the history of the Republic of Turkiye. That oil was beneath the mountains. It had been there for millions of years. But if you cannot go there, if you do not search and conduct drilling operations there, you have no chance of finding that oil,” he said.

“Therefore, once that region was cleared of terrorism, we began seismic and drilling activities in 2019-2020, and we are currently producing 83,000-84,000 barrels per day. There is currently a major energy crisis in the world. In an environment where there is such an energy crisis, every barrel of oil and every cubic meter of natural gas produced by Turkiye is extremely valuable to us.”

Bayraktar said nearly 700 kilometers of roads had also been built in Sirnak and hundreds of wells had been drilled.

“Thousands of our brothers and sisters, most of them from that region, have now gained employment opportunities. Therefore, the children and young people there have begun looking toward the future with greater hope,” he said.

“Previously, perhaps the only option available to them was terrorism and going to the mountains. That is how the separatist organization presented it to them. But now things have reached a different point. There is now economic activity in that region. There are jobs and employment there.”

He said the oil and economic activity in Gabar represented a small example of what a terrorism-free region could look like.

“This is a small glimpse of a terrorism-free region that we have created in Sirnak and Gabar. God willing, when we extend this across the entire region, meaning Turkiye and the wider region, you will all be able to see how significant its impact can be, including its effects on prosperity, social peace and development,” Bayraktar said.

The minister concluded by emphasizing the importance of the “Terror-Free Turkiye” process.

“Therefore, we believe in the following: ‘Terror-Free Turkiye,’ and God willing, a terror-free region, is one of the most important projects of the Century of Turkiye, one of the projects that will crown it. I see that there is broad consensus on this among our entire nation,” Bayraktar said.