Speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the Judicial Year 2022-2023, Erdoğan said: “In the past 20 years, we have made significant reforms to strengthen our country’s characteristic as a state of law. People’s rights and freedoms, women’s rights, children’s rights and improving our justice system have been the most important elements of our reforms.”

“I hope, on centenary of our Republic, we will take inventory of and assess the experience and knowledge we have gained in the past century, and measure the progress we have made. I also hope the year 2023 will bring us the spirit to think, contemplate, dream, and set new goals about our visions for our next century. I believe we need to exert such an effort regarding our justice system, judicial institutions and legal infrastructure as well as other areas,” Erdoğan said.

“The world is going through a period when the political and economic balances of power, established in the last century, are shaken to its roots. This process, which started with the global financial crisis, grew deeper with the coronavirus pandemic, and expanded with the Ukraine-Russia war, has brought Türkiye to a historic crossroads,” Erdoğan said.

“We are ready to build the century of Türkiye”

“As a country that spent the past 2 centuries with constant losses, tipping points, and struggles for revival, we have just been able to complete building the democracy and development infrastructure whereby we can utilize our own potential,” Erdoğan noted, and further stated: “It sure has not been easy to digest such a revolution as the collapse of the six-century-old Ottoman Empire, and the proclamation of our Republic, our last state on these lands. Surely, the tutelage, coups, political crises, economic downfalls, terrorism, social tensions and international pressures, which have left their marks on the Republic era, should all be assessed individually. The reality now is that Türkiye has risen to a new level, a new league. Every new development reaffirms the magnitude of the opportunity ahead of our country, and the power of our potential to seize it. With the infrastructure built in the past 20 years, Türkiye has been preparing for today. Maybe it has not been easy to reach the threshold of the great leap forward, we will make for the second century of the Republic. Yet, we are ready to build a great and powerful Türkiye, the Century of Türkiye, while the world and our region is boiling over. We have the tools we need in all areas from education to healthcare, from security to justice, from transportation to energy, from industry to agriculture. Türkiye, with its production, employment and exportation, has now surpassed its own region, and is now rising as a political and economic power at a global level. We have now achieved the necessary power, ability and influence to advance towards our goals both at home and abroad.”

“Our presence is now recognized across the world from Europe to Asia, from Africa to America, with our political relations, diplomatic networks, civil society organizations, and even with our military power. We are virtually the only country that can establish and maintain relations with warring parties across various locations, not just in the Ukraine crisis, at the same level and influence as a symbol of conscience and justice,” Erdoğan underscored. (ILKHA)