08 August 2017•Update: 09 August 2017
By Sibel Ugurlu and Cansu Dikme
TRABZON, Turkey
The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party has set out to serve, not master the Turkish nation, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.
Addressing a public gathering in northern Trabzon province’s Besikduzu district, Erdogan said the AK Party had taken Turkey forward during its 15-year rule.
“We said: ‘We are here to be a servant, not be a master of the Turkish nation'.
“It has been 15 years [since the ruling AK Party came to power], and where we are today is quite different from when we took over the mission.
“Today, the world talks about Turkey; it has become an ideal throughout the world,” he said.
“When we took over, per capita income in Turkey was about $3,400, but since then it has climbed. Today, per capita income has reached $11,000 in Turkey.”
Erdogan slammed the Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu for his recent remarks in an interview with German weekly Focus.
Kilicdaroglu had criticized the alleged lack of security in Turkey. "In Turkey, there is currently no security guarantee for anyone, neither for life nor for property," the CHP leader said, adding it was not safe for Germans to travel to Turkey.
The president reminded the opposition party leader that the Turkish government had taken all security measures during his rally in Istanbul in July.
Kilicdaroglu’s July 9 rally in Istanbul's Maltepe district came on the final day of a 450- kilometer (280-mile) march from Ankara to Istanbul that was organized in protest after a court jailed one of his fellow party lawmakers, Enis Berberoglu, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Berberoglu was convicted of revealing state secrets for leaking confidential pictures to the Cumhuriyet newspaper concerning the search of National Intelligence Organization (MIT) trucks en route to Syria in January 2014.
About the recent row between Turkey and Germany, Erdogan said: “Germany will understand its fault, but it will be too late.”
Ties between Ankara and Berlin have been strained in recent months as Turkish leaders slammed Germany, accusing it of turning a blind eye to the activities of outlawed groups and terrorist organizations hostile to Turkey.
Ankara has also criticized Berlin for failing to demonstrate strong solidarity with the Turkish people in the wake of the defeated coup in July 2016 that left 250 people martyred and some 2,200 injured.
The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which organized the foiled coup, has a large network in Germany, with dozens of private schools, businesses and media organizations.
Since the coup attempt, nearly 4,000 FETO suspects have come to Germany from Turkey and other countries, according to local media reports.
Apart from FETO, the terrorist PKK group is also active in the country, and carries out significant propaganda, recruitment and funding activities.
The group has nearly 14,000 followers among the Kurdish immigrant population in Germany, according to the BfV domestic intelligence agency.
