Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan, who came to Diyarbakır to make some contacts, attended the "Türkiye United with Brotherhood, Strengthened with Stability" meeting held at the AKP Provincial Directorate.
Fidan, who later held a press conference, made evaluations regarding the agenda.
Claiming that AKP's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attaches great importance to Diyarbakır, Fidan said, "Diyarbakır, needless to say. It is an ancient city that has hosted great civilizations since ancient times. Its geography is special, its people are special, its climate is special, everything is special. Of course, this happens from time to time in history. These special moments are touched by the evil eye. Such a 30-40 years enter a moment of incontinence. This historical growth is somewhat interrupted." "But then again, history continues its own course. We believe that Diyarbakir will continue its historical journey that it deserves, especially with the actions of the AK Party in the last 25 years, and its economic development, regional development, hosting of trade, technology and other economic and cultural relations in the region will gradually increase."
"THE SEPTEMBER 12 MENTALITY ENDED WITH THE AK PARTY COMING TO POWER"
Reminding that tomorrow is the anniversary of the September 12 military coup, Fidan said, "Tomorrow is September 12. As you know, there was a mentality called the September 12 mentality. In particular, there was a mentality that became almost a symbol of a stance that denies the identity of the Kurds. It was really the AKP cadres coming to power through the people, through elections, that put an end to this mentality, both in practice, on the legal ground, and on the mental ground. In other words, this is an issue that should be underlined historically. The identity that the September 12 mentality revealed, the identity "The stance that rejects and excludes the general structure other than a certain minority has taken the country's integrity, unity, security, economy, development, whatever measurable parameters you can think of, backwards," he said.
Claiming that "identity denial has disappeared with the AK Party governments, and that the principle of equal treatment of all citizens, regardless of their ethnic identity and belief, just because they are citizens of the Republic of Turkey within the framework of constitutional citizenship, is the biggest political revolution they have made," said Fidan:
"This has already been the most advanced point that humanity has reached in modern state administration. Constitutional citizenship and equal treatment of people. It is important to accept the identity, culture, belief and place of each person and to produce social integration and cohesion within this. So, the strange thing here is that for centuries, for millennia, sociology in these lands has already found its own way of living together without discrimination of Kurds, Turks, Muslims, Christians, Arabs and Circassians. While society is many times ahead, the fact that the state's own software lags behind this issue has actually been one of the main reasons for the crisis.
The important thing that AKP did was to transfer social reality to the administration of the state, the codes of the constitution, and the laws passed by the Parliament. When this happens, that is, when there is a harmony of mind, heart and mind between the society and the state, we are left with nothing, dear friends. Solving other problems related to development, related to development, related to modernity, related to culture, related to education.”
"THE VALUE OF THE DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION WAS NOT APPRECIATED AT THAT PERIOD"
Making evaluations about the "Terror-Free Türkiye" process in his speech, Fidan also explained why the 2013 solution process broke down.
Fidan stated that "AK Party has taken the biggest steps regarding the latest democratic reforms as of 2013" and continued as follows:
"A big step has been taken regarding the language and Kurdish education. In other words, from the moment that everything that could be in the legislation regarding identity denial has been cleared away, and we have returned to a real field where sociology and state legislation meet, there should not have been a major political basis. But of course, the fact that political violence has been finding a place in Türkiye and beyond Türkiye in the form of terrorism for many years, that we have not been able to establish a synchronization with the political reality taking place in Türkiye, and that we look more at the possible crises in the region rather than what is happening in Türkiye." An approach that looks at events from a different perspective has postponed the current process's transition to natural life for another 13 years.
But what do we say? We have a beautiful folk saying. Let it be late, let it not be difficult, let it be good. This issue could actually have been resolved 13 years ago. But the possibilities were looked at by saying, 'This will come from Syria, that will come from Iraq.' In fact, the value of society, state integration and democratic revolution in Türkiye could not be appreciated at that time. Does all this mean that all problems are solved? Of course he's not coming. But it's not about whether there is a problem or not."
"RIGHTS, THESE, AND IDENTITIES ARE NO LONGER TALKING HERE"
"The issue is about the method by which we want to solve a problem, a social problem, a political problem. Violence, political violence or dialogue? In Türkiye, the functioning of political parties, the functioning of the Parliament, the functioning of the press, that is, everyone has the opportunity to advance their own place and political position through politics, through dialogue, and by explaining it to the society. When you use political violence and terrorism instead, this opens up a completely different ground.
Rights, these and that, identities are no longer talked about here. There is blood here, there is another language here. Now, in this process of brotherhood under the leadership of our President, hopefully we will come to the end of a problem that should have been resolved a long time ago, and from now on, if we have any problem and area of discussion, we will solve it in a civilized way, under the roof of the Parliament, as the whole world does, not through violence, but through dialogue, on other political platforms."
"THE REGION WILL REACH THE ECONOMIC POSITION IT DESERVES"
Pointing out that there is an incredible economic potential in Diyarbakır, Fidan said, "Not only here, Diyarbakır is in a geographical situation that has a very close relationship with Iraq, Syria, the cultural basin and the economic basin here, as you know historically. Now, hopefully, at a point where there is political stability, peace and tranquility not only in Türkiye, but also in Syria and Iraq, we will see that the economy here will recover incredibly, not only from the reforms and initiatives we have made in Türkiye, but also from these regional policies and our cooperation there. In other words, we evaluate that Diyarbakır and the region will reach the economic position they deserve. "And hopefully our entire goal is in that direction," he said.
"WE NEED TO BRING AN ORDER THAT WILL ELIMINATE POLITICAL VIOLENCE TO OUR REGION NOW"
Emphasizing that the perspective of a terrorism-free region will essentially ensure the stability of both Syria and Iraq, Fidan said, "It is now necessary to bring an order that will eliminate political violence to our region. Look, for the last 40 years, this region has been constantly associated with Iraq, Syria and a certain part of Türkiye with war, blood and terrorism. It is really difficult for economy, investment and economic development to come here. "Despite this, AKP has solved infrastructure problems in an incredible way since the moment it came to power," he said.
HE TOLD ABOUT HIS TRAVEL BY LAND IN THE REGION
Drawing attention to the atmosphere of peace and security in the region, Fidan stated that he visited the region by road after the last event he attended in Ahlat.
Fidan said:
"We were coming during the MIT Presidency, but there were other issues at that time. I was also going to other provinces of the region, but the last time I made such a comprehensive trip by road was maybe 30 years ago. Normally we always come and go by plane. Now, after the last event in Ahlat, I said that I would drive myself by road and return with my friends. From there, I went around Lake Van to Muş, from Muş to Solhan, from Solhan to Bingöl, from Bingöl to Elazığ, from Elazığ to Malatya, driving myself, looking everywhere, stopping. Because we are in cities, but how are the intercity roads? How are the villages? How are the districts? So this needs to be seen on the spot. Look, you are the people of the region.
So, the situation now is incredibly different from the situation 25 years ago. First of all, we no longer see double roads or adobe houses. The condition of the houses, the condition of the road, the condition of the infrastructure, which are indicators of economic development, that is, when we look at Diyarbakır from the air, the development of that urbanism, new settlements in the new Diyarbakir, the same way we see all these in Muş, Elazığ, Bingöl, Solhan, that is, Ahlat, may God bless those who do it. So, friends, this is a service that can be seen by the eye of the beholder. "So this is a service that this land has not seen for years."
"NOW ALL PEOPLE AND STATES IN THE REGION WILL CONTINUE THEIR WAY IN PEACE, PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT"
Emphasizing that if these could be done despite such an extraordinary situation, in a period when this extraordinary situation disappears, there is peace, tranquility and no political violence, Fidan said:
"Think about the economic development that will happen. I mean, there is an incredible potential. With its geography, climate, people, the excitement there, we have very enterprising and enterprising people. I think that not only the people of the region, but also our investors from other parts of Türkiye and investors from abroad will attract serious interest here.
Hopefully, not only Türkiye, but also Iraq and Syria, when we manage the equation in stability, that is, when there is peace in Syria, I mean all of Syria. When there is peace throughout Iraq, all peoples and states in the region will continue their path in peace, tranquility and development. We need this."
"SILVAN DAM WILL ALSO MAKE INCREDIBLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO Türkiye'S FOOD SECURITY"
Referring to the importance of the Silvan Dam Project, which is under construction in Diyarbakır, Fidan stated that the dam will make significant contributions to Turkey's food security once it becomes operational and said:
"I also received very promising information about the situation of the Silvan Dam. Here, with the completion of our dam with its outbuildings and environmental tunnels, and with the completion of the additional facilities of the Dicle Dam and Kral Kızı dams, as our minister said, an additional area of approximately four million decares will be irrigated better, not from scratch, but the product will be irrigated two or two and a half times. We think that the agriculture-centered economy will increase by two and a half times as of 2029. That is, there will be an additional income of several billion dollars. But More importantly, when you look at the Russia-Ukraine war, something has emerged that no one has noticed until now due to the interruption of maritime traffic in the Black Sea.
Wheat produced in Ukraine and Russia cannot go to world markets. There is an incredible increase in food prices. Not only the price, but in some places the situation has reached a level that threatens food safety. "We evaluate that the Silvan Dam, Dicle Dam and Kral Kızı Dam, together with all their outbuildings, additional facilities, tunnels and irrigation facilities, will make incredible contributions to Türkiye's food security and will take Türkiye to a very high level in terms of food security."
"THERE ARE MANY BEAUTIFUL DAYS AHEAD"
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan said, "We are at the very beginning of what we will do regarding Diyarbakır and Turkey," and concluded his words as follows:
"Hopefully, as long as our President is in charge, our services in this regard will continue without interruption. I hope this issue of terrorism, which hangs over us like a dark cloud, will disappear. With this project, I really see that we will be able to perform much better than the economic situation of the current development situation, as soon as we return to an environment where political violence is off the agenda and everything is resolved by agreeing and talking in a civilized manner. We have very, very good days ahead of us.
I believe this wholeheartedly. I would like to thank all my brothers and sisters who made this possible. In other words, it was really important for the people of the region to embrace this issue, support it, and keep their minds up. "The effort you have put forth in this regard is beyond all praise."
