President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the nation after the Cabinet Meeting.
Highlights from President Erdoğan's statements:
I wish God's mercy to those who lost their lives in the accident that occurred in Manisa. Of the 26 injured, 2 are in intensive care and 24 are still receiving treatment.
At our cabinet meeting today, we discussed the important issues on the agenda of our country and nation. We made comprehensive evaluations about the developments in our region that affect us. Working life, social policies and the current situation regarding the funding issue, which has occupied the country's agenda recently, were the main topics of our cabinet.
Before moving on to the decisions taken in our cabinet, I would like to briefly remind you of what we have done to serve our nation in the last two weeks.
On October 1, we attended the opening of the 5th legislative year of the 28th term of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and addressed the General Assembly. I hope that the new legislative year will be beneficial for our country, our nation, our democracy and our political parties. I hope that the legislative activities to be carried out under the umbrella of our parliament will be carried out in a democratic maturity, without resorting to the provocations we witnessed on the first day.
On October 3, we were the guests of our brothers from Şanlıurfa. We shared the excitement of our young people at TEKNOFEST Southeast, which was held with a record participation this year, and we opened the completed Şanlıurfa City Hospital. There we saw once again that Türkiye's future; It rises in the hands of our young people who think, research, produce and develop their own technology. I congratulate our award-winning young people and thank everyone who contributed to the successful organization of this great technology festival in Şanlıurfa.
On the same day, we opened the connection roads with Şanlıurfa City Hospital, which has an investment value of 39 billion lira. We have brought to our city a modern healthcare facility that will provide first-class healthcare services to the people of Şanlıurfa with its 500 thousand square meters of closed area, 2,000 bed capacity, 451 outpatient rooms, six operating rooms and other units. I hope that our Şanlıurfa City Hospital and other investments will be beneficial, and I extend my congratulations to all our institutions.
On October 7, we attended the opening of the 77th International Astronautical Congress, hosted by Türkiye for the first time. We came together with experts in their fields from 111 countries at the congress held in Antalya. As Türkiye, we are making intense efforts to have a stronger presence in space and to develop our own technology. We opened the 2027 academic year with a ceremony held in our Social Complex. In the same program, we presented the Higher Education Council 2026 Outstanding Achievement Awards to their owners. I hope the new academic year will be beneficial for our students, academics and higher education community, and I congratulate the award recipients.
No one who goes against the law should have peace and quiet anywhere in the world. Our state's breath is on the necks of those who will escape justice or those who think they do. In this context, we ensured the return of 294 people to our country in the first nine months of 2026. In the same period, we brought 736 people to our country within the framework of different searches. We will continue to crack down on those who threaten the lives and property of the nation, no matter where they hide.
We were in Babaeski on Friday to open the Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section of our Halkalı-Kapıkule High Speed Train Line. We have completed the 153-kilometer Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section, which is the longest stage of our 229-kilometer-long high-speed train line. When all stages of the project are completed, the travel time between Halkalı-Kapıkule will decrease from 4 hours to 1 hour 30 minutes. Load transportation time will decrease from 8.5 hours to 3.5 hours. Our annual passenger capacity will increase from 600 thousand to 3 million, and our cargo capacity will increase from 1.5 million tons to 9.5 million tons. I congratulate those who contributed. I wish the Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section of the Halkalı-Kapıkule High Speed Train Line, which we opened, to be beneficial.
On October 10, we came together with the distinguished members of our Society for the Dissemination of Knowledge, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of its establishment this year. We appreciate the work of our society, which has made significant contributions to our country in the fields of education and civil society for three quarters of a century. Raising young people who are committed to their roots, know their values, are equipped with the knowledge of the age and are responsible for their country is a great effort and sacrifice. I wholeheartedly congratulate the Ilim Yayma family for their sincere efforts and pray to God for success in their work.
My dear nation, five of our citizens lost their lives in the building that collapsed in Maltepe, Istanbul, four days ago. I wish God's mercy on our deceased brothers, patience to their families, and a speedy recovery to our wounded. My condolences to our nation. This painful incident in Maltepe showed once again how vital the urban transformation issue of Istanbul is. Postponing the earthquake in Istanbul, ignoring it, or sacrificing it to daily political conflicts would be betraying Istanbul.
Therefore, our people do not and cannot have the right to play with their lives. You see, they live in villas, in luxurious and safe sites. But when it comes to the renewal of Istanbul's building stock, they speak the most. These are the ones making the most noise. These make the most noise. It is time to say stop to this hypocrisy.
As the government, we are determined to accelerate our urban transformation campaign despite the indifference displayed at the local administration level. We see Istanbul, the trust of our party, as the capital of this urban transformation mobilization. We carried out one out of every three urban transformations in Türkiye in Istanbul. Since 2012, we have included 1 million 298 thousand independent sections in Istanbul within the scope of transformation. We have completed the transformation of 1 million 7 thousand independent sections. The transformation of 291 thousand independent sections is still ongoing. We brought nearly 5 million of our citizens to their safe homes.
We took every step to encourage our citizens towards urban transformation. We started our "Half of It is on Us" campaign specifically for our Istanbul. We have included 544 thousand 564 independent sections within the scope of transformation so far with Half of It is on Us. We extended the duration of the campaign until December 31, 2027 so that more of our citizens can benefit from this opportunity.
From here I call out once again to my brothers in Istanbul. Please do not postpone the steps to be taken regarding urban transformation. Take action today to reconcile with your neighbors, initiate the necessary procedures, and get a safe home. I also want to underline this. While our government has committed itself to the transformation of Istanbul with all its resources, we expect all our municipalities, regardless of political party, to show the same understanding, the same effort and the same sensitivity. I call on responsible mayors who truly love their city and district to focus on urban transformation projects.
My dear citizens, unfortunately, new conflict areas in our region are added every day. Tension is escalating in the line stretching from Lebanon to Yemen and Iran, and attempts are being made to settle different accounts, especially through proxy forces. Türkiye continues to be an island of stability.
Dear friends, one of the issues we discussed in our cabinet today was the İŞKUR Youth Program that we implemented last year. We attach great importance to our young people getting to know the working life, gaining experience and being better prepared for the future while continuing their education. Our young people also show great interest in the İŞKUR Youth Program that we initiated for this purpose. The number of young people who have benefited from the program to date has reached 220 thousand. These young friends of ours both gained experience and earned a certain amount of income.
We do not leave this interest of our young people unrequited. Now we are taking another step. We are increasing the quota of the program for the 2026-2027 period to 150 thousand. Within the scope of the program, our young people will be paid 1,375 lira per day. Our students who participate 14 days a month will be able to receive support up to 19,250 lira. In addition, our state will cover the insurance premiums of our young people. In addition, under certain conditions, a promotion of 1,250 lira and special discounts on various expenses will be offered.
It is the age of youth production, that is, we aim to reach three million young people in three years with our power move. We aim for one million university students to benefit from the İŞKUR Youth Program by the end of 2028. In spite of those who try to use young people for their own personal gain, we will continue to increase our support for the education, employment and future of our young people. We will not abandon our youth to the ambitions of marginal structures, terrorist organizations or careerist politicians.
We are working hard to quickly resolve the funding issue. Since our Cabinet meeting, many positive steps have been taken, from the appointment of our State Supervisory Board to the formation of our Fund Coordination Board, from informing our Grand National Assembly of Turkey to submitting the bill to the discretion of our Parliament on matters requiring legal regulation, from the start of the transfer of Katılım Emeklilik Unit and İktisat Katılım Bank to Emlak Katılım, to the start of the payments of the funds whose Central Registry Agency transactions have been completed.
On the judicial side of the issue, investigations continue meticulously and in depth. Legal action was taken against 282 people, including board members of fund companies. While 84 of them were arrested, an arrest warrant was issued for 27 suspects. Judicial control measures were imposed on 99 people. After the bill is passed by our Parliament, principal payments of up to one million lira will begin in October. Following the completion of ordinary and extraordinary liquidations in October, a significant portion of investors will have received their interim payments. Our Fund Coordination Board will inform our public in detail and regularly.
Dear friends, our first priority right now is not to criticize those whose only capital in politics is polemics, but to manage this process transparently, fairly and quickly, without using public resources. Once again, I want everyone to know this and understand this. Protecting our nation's rights and laws is our red line. Anyone who has made exorbitant returns and gained unfair profits through speculation and manipulation will definitely pay the price. Others may support robbers, those who seize the nation's property, and those who resort to unlawful acts, simply because of their affiliation with a political party. He can take them under his wing. He can travel from city to city and organize rallies for them. We are not like them. We hold accountable those who violate the law.
We are determined to implement whatever is necessary to prevent our country from facing a similar problem during this period. With additional regulations, we will strengthen the structure of our capital markets against such microbes and hopefully make their functioning much healthier.
Of course, while taking these steps, we will not allow those who are up to their necks in mud to act as honor executioners against our cadres and cabinet members with the logic of leaving no traces of mud behind and the politics of hatred. Look, no one in Türkiye is above criticism, including myself. But no one's title, profession or position gives them the right to assassinate someone else's reputation using FETO methods. The right to criticize is not the right to defame the interlocutor with lies and distortion. Likewise, freedom of expression is not the freedom to slander anyone. Anyone who claims to be accountable on behalf of the public should do their duty responsibly and should not play with people's honor and dignity.
