The head of one of many prime business our bodies within the nation known as on Thursday for growth and financial revival amid the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative, recalling substantial losses that occurred in a decades-long marketing campaign of the PKK terrorist group.
“This newly opened door is a light of hope not only for Türkiye but also for Iraq, Syria and all our neighboring geographies,” mentioned Burhan Özdemir, the pinnacle of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSIAD).
Speaking on the occasion in southeastern Diyarbakır province, which prior to now was one of many areas that suffered from terror, Özdemir known as on business organizations and civil society to be part of the initiative.
Türkiye has been battling the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Türkiye, the U.S. and the European Union for 4 a long time.
The initiative for a terror-free Türkiye was launched by authorities ally Devlet Bahçeli, head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), who known as on the PKK’s jailed chief Abdullah Öcalan to attraction to the PKK to put down arms final yr.
Earlier this yr, the PKK introduced via a declaration a proper dissolution and termination of its armed marketing campaign, which is seen not solely as a historic turning level within the political historical past of Türkiye but additionally as a major financial alternative. The officers have mentioned that the peace dividend of the disbandment could be large when it comes to channeling assets to extra productive areas for growth and progress.
This view was echoed by Özdemir, who, in the course of the occasion dubbed “Terror-Free Türkiye Gathering,” mentioned that the “direct and indirect cost our country has borne in this struggle exceeds $2 trillion.”
“This figure is not a simple economic cost – it means the wealth that could have emerged from these fertile lands has been stolen from the tables not only of the people of this region but of the entire nation,” he famous.
“Today, our country’s gross domestic product (GDP) could have exceeded $3 trillion; our per capita income could have risen above $30,000,” he maintained.
He additionally identified to comparatively low contribution of the area to complete nationwide earnings regardless of its huge agricultural riches and potential, along with the younger inhabitants.
“It is time to make use of this huge useful resource not for protection towards terror, however for an offensive in growth. This newly opened door is a lightweight of hope not just for Türkiye but additionally for Iraq, Syria, and all our neighboring geographies,” he furthered.
“At this historic turning point, as MÜSIAD, we are taking on a responsibility and making a call from here to all of Türkiye: Especially to the umbrella organizations of our business world, and to all civil society organizations, trade unions and chambers – let us not be mere spectators of the ‘terror-free Türkiye’ vision. Let us become its architects, its agents of revival,” he added.
“Let us shoulder this historic responsibility together,” Özdemir mentioned.
Source: www.dailysabah.com