(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Next month's presidential and parliamentary elections will usher in a new era for Turkey, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose party has been in power for 15 years.
'The elections on June 24 will be a turning point for Turkey, he told a gathering of his Islamic-conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul yesterday.
Erdogan, who is seeking re-election, promised more investment, economic growth and a commitment to democracy during his address unveiling the party's election manifesto.
The election will be the culmination of a process to switch to a new presidential system in which the post of prime minister will be scrapped, vastly empowering whomever holds the presidency.
While Erdogan has presided over an era of economic growth and infrastructure expansion, inflation is stuck in double digits, the lira has been quickly losing ground in recent years to foreign currencies, and youth unemployment is stubbornly high.
The country has also been under a state of emergency for nearly two years, since a failed coup in 2016.
Tens of thousands, including dozens of journalists, are in jail.
Meanwhile judges, teachers and soldiers are among the more than 130,000 people fired by decree.
Erdogan also spoke of Turkey's goal of joining the European Union.
The president said that while Turkey has never given up on its goal, Ankara's counterparts in Europe did not show the same determination on the matter.
Turkey began talks to join the EU in 2005, 18 years after applying.
While a series of factors slowed negotiations, notably the Cyprus issue and resistance in Germany and France to Turkish membership, since 2016 membership talks have all but collapsed.
'We have absolutely not given up our objective of full membership of the EU even if we have not seen the same determination and desire recently from our interlocutors, he insisted.
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