President Erdogan vows to fulfill all promises made with Turkish nation

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday pledged to fulfill all promises made with the Turkish nation.

"We will fulfill all the promises we made with our nation, especially to strengthen the climate of trust and stability and to increase the welfare of our people," Erdogan said at the Justice and Development (AK) Party’s 4th extraordinary congress in the capital Ankara.

Following up on a pledge he made before being reelected president this May, Erdogan reiterated his promise to introduce a new civilian constitution for the country.

"Hopefully, we will bring to our country a civil, liberal and encompassing constitution that will embrace the Republic with true democracy," he said.

The incumbent constitution was introduced after a military coup in 1980. Erdogan has repeatedly pushed for a new constitution to be drafted under civilian rule.

The president also reiterated his resolve to heal the wounds of the victims of twin earthquakes that hit the country's southern region on Feb. 6 and claimed more than 50,000 lives.

"We will not only rebuild our cities destroyed by earthquakes but also rebuild and revive all settlements under earthquake threat," Erdogan said.

Türkiye plans to construct enough buildings in a year to meet the needs of the quake victims. Erdogan previously pledged that 319,000 houses would be built in the first year and 650,000 in total.

"We will ensure that every citizen of this country can benefit from all kinds of services, especially justice, security, education and health, from birth to death, at the highest level," Erdogan said.

Founded on Aug. 14, 2001, the AK Party burst onto the political scene under the leadership of Erdogan, who became prime minister in 2003 and has served as president since 2014.