Türkiye will not shy away from using an iron fist to realize its terror-free vision, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday.
“We will take determined steps to turn our terror-free Türkiye and terror-free region vision into a reality,” Erdoğan vowed in a video message to mark the new year.
“We are making every effort for this process, which will open up a new path for our country, to work in peace, mutual goodwill and understanding,” Erdoğan said, referring to a recent push by his government to end four decades of terrorism in Türkiye.
“But we will not shy away from using an iron fist clad in a velvet glove when necessary,” the president said.
The end of terrorism in Türkiye, largely perpetrated by the PKK, which has been fighting the Turkish state for over four decades, could be nigh.
PKK jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan this week said he was “ready to make a call” to back a new initiative by the Turkish government to end terrorism in Türkiye.
“In that vein, we are hoping to give good news to our people in 2025,” Erdoğan said.
He congratulated the Turkish people on their new year and sent his condolences to all citizens martyred in 2024.
Türkiye suffered various terrorist attacks in 2024 and lost several citizens in regional conflicts like the Gaza war, the Syria crisis and Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.
“We will further strengthen our solidarity and unity in 2024,” Erdoğan said.
He praised the “democratic manifestation” that was the local elections in March and thanked voters for exercising their “national willpower at the polls.”
On economic policies, Erdoğan touted the consecutive decline in annual inflation since June 2023, which currently stands at 47%.
“This decrease shows we will achieve our 2025 targets,” Erdoğan said.
The Turkish central bank, in its last inflation report of this year, raised its year-end inflation forecast for 2025 to 21%, up 7% from the previous report.
Erdoğan also assured efforts to revive the southeastern regions battered by twin major earthquakes in February 2023 would continue in the new year.
He reiterated Türkiye’s pledge to support Syria in its reconstruction after the fall of Bashar Assad and said: “I believe the more stability takes root in Syria, the easier voluntary returns will be for Syrian refugees.”
On Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, which has continued for 15 months now and killed at least 45,000 Palestinians, Erdoğan said Türkiye would “work as hard as possible for a free and sovereign Palestinian state with territorial integrity and East Jerusalem as its capital based on the 1967 borders.”
“A fair peace that would end the war between our Black Sea neighbors, Russia and Ukraine, remains a priority for us,” Erdoğan said, adding that Türkiye wishes for a new era to start in the region to its north next year.