President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech on the 22nd foundation anniversary of the Justice and Development (AK) Party. “With the AK Party, politics has found its natural course and a new era has begun in Türkiye with more democracy, more freedoms and more economic development at its center,” President Erdoğan said. “We raised the standards of our democracy by clearing the wreckage left by the tutelage in terms of rights and freedoms,” President Erdoğan noted. Underlining that they have always protected Türkiye’s essence and values, President Erdoğan said: “We never betrayed or showed disrespect to our beloved nation, who laid our yeast, kneaded our dough, wove our fabric, and stood by us like a rock in our most difficult days with their support and prayers.” Recalling that in the past 22 years they have been tested with fire, President Erdoğan said: “They tried everything to destroy us from inside and outside. We have suffered many betrayals. We have endured many attacks. We have overcome many adversities, many obstacles, difficulties and hardships. From vicious murders to the Republic rallies... From media provocations to the closure case... From the 367 travesty to the December 17-25 attempt... From the Gezi events to the July 15 bloody coup attempt... From terrorist attacks of all kinds to economic traps... In just 22 years, we have experienced and seen more treachery, vandalism and lawlessness than a political movement would have encountered in perhaps centuries.” “WE HAVE FREED OUR COUNTRY FROM ITS SHACKLES” “We have always repaid our debt of gratitude to our nation by working harder and serving more. In every topic you can think of, we have freed our country from its shackles,” President Erdoğan said. “With the Presidential System of Government, for the first time in our history, we changed our system of government directly by the choice of the nation and by the civilian will,” President Erdoğan said. “We have equipped every inch of 780 thousand square kilometers, from towns to villages, from all 81 provinces of Türkiye to each of our 922 districts, with our works and services.  In education, health, justice, security, transportation, industry, economy, agriculture; in short, in every field of life, we have managed to fit many times more services than those done before us into the period of our governments.” “We thank our beloved nation for their support and prayers in all 17 elections in the past 22 years,” President Erdoğan said. “Despite the obstacles we faced, we achieved countless reforms of historic quality. We have turned segments of society, who have been seen as pariahs in their own homeland for years, into first-class citizens of this country. We raised the standard of our democracy, we pushed back the tutelage. We have proudly inscribed many achievements, which were considered impossible, in our country's win column,” President Erdoğan said. “We are determined to build the Century of Türkiye that we promised to our youth. We believe that a first-class democracy, a first-class economy and a first-class future befit this country in the 100th year of our Republic. In our 21 years in power, we have built a robust infrastructure and laid solid foundations for this. In the period of mastership of our Presidency, we will fulfill our promise to our nation by building a more prosperous, more secure, more prestigious and peaceful Türkiye in every respect,” President Erdoğan said.