Minister Tunç: “Our MPs gave the world a lesson in democracy at the Turkish Grand National Assembly”

Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç, who participated in the keşkek festival in Bartın, recalled that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was applauded by the US Congress, stating, “Members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly signed a resolution condemning those who applaud a genocide criminal and approve that crime in that congress. Our members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly gave a lesson in democracy to the world.”

At the festival held in the Dağbahçe picnic area of Köklü village in the Ulus district of Bartın, 6,000 servings of keşkek were distributed. Famous artist Ramazan Çelik from the Western Black Sea region provided unforgettable moments for the guests during his 2-hour concert. Local malay soup and keşkek were served at the festival, which was also attended by Bartın Governor Nurtaç Arslan and Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç.

In his speech at the festival, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said, “After many years, you are providing the best example of unity and togetherness in this beautiful organization today. We congratulate you all. There are many valuable sponsors here who contributed to this beautiful organization. We would like to thank our BARFED management, especially our president, and everyone who contributed. Keşkek is just an occasion. What is important is to come together. We are here to pass on our culture to the younger generations and our children and to strengthen our unity, solidarity, and brotherhood. I hope this continues for many years.”

“Turkey is not the Turkey of 22 years ago”

Minister Tunç spoke about the investments made in Bartın in recent years, saying, “Our Turkey is certainly not the Turkey of 22 years ago. We remember both the past and today. It is clear where we have come from and what great works we have achieved. I hope we will strive to bring that work to our homeland in the future. Bartın has witnessed very important works in recent years. We have provided many educational institutions to Bartın, from its university, faculty, primary school to high school. We have implemented infrastructure projects. We also brought four dams to Bartın. We realized these to protect against flood risks. We have realized sports facilities for the youth from our towns to our districts to the city center. We have worked on everything from our passenger port to our highways, double roads, and tunnels, as well as bringing and increasing new factories in our organized industrial zone. For years, Bartın has experienced migration, but since 2007, we have transitioned to a province with an increasing population rather than a decreasing one.”

“Unfortunately, international organizations could not prevent this genocide, they remained ineffective”

Tunç pointed to the events in Palestine, emphasizing that international organizations have been ineffective and that President Erdoğan continuously draws attention to this situation. Minister Tunç stated, “While we can spend time here in peace and brotherhood, unfortunately, a genocide is taking place in the world. Since October 7, more than 40,000 people have been martyred in Gaza, Palestine, in front of the world. Nearly 20,000 of them are women and children. Unfortunately, international organizations could not prevent this genocide and remained ineffective. Our President expresses this every time. He always says that international organizations cannot respond to the world’s problems and people’s issues. When he says, ‘The world is bigger than five. The international system must be revised,’ he is pointing to today and continues to do so.”

“We are proud of our MPs and our Parliament”

Minister Tunç recalled that despite the arrest warrant issued by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court against Israeli officials, they spoke in the US Congress and were applauded, continuing, “Unfortunately, since October 7, genocide continues despite the interim measures decision made by the International Court of Justice regarding Israeli officials. The court’s decision is not being implemented. A person against whom the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant is allowed to speak in the US Congress and is unfortunately applauded. Those who applaud are those who are complicit in the crimes of that baby killer. Yesterday, a historic decision was signed in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Our members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly signed a resolution condemning those who applaud that genocide and approve that crime against the members of Congress who stood up in that congress. Our members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly gave a lesson in democracy to the world. They gave a lesson in human rights. We are also proud of our MPs and our Parliament. As Turkey, we will continue to defend justice and fairness in the world, inshallah. We will continue to strengthen our unity and togetherness.”

“We will advance our country with development initiatives”

Minister Tunç reminded that the next four years will be a period without elections, stating that the economic difficulties will be overcome quickly. Tunç said, “We have a period of four years without elections ahead of us. Inshallah, we will quickly overcome the economic difficulties caused by the wars around us, the pandemic, and the great earthquake we encountered on February 6, which is the biggest in world history. Just as we inherited inflation in double digits in 2002. We remember the period of bankrupt banks. We recall the days when even retirement pensions could not be paid and how we gave concessions to obtain $1.5 billion from the IMF. We took our country out of those troubled days. Now, inshallah, during the next four years without elections, in a stable period, we will continue our policies in a way that will increase the purchasing power of our citizens, retirees, workers, and civil servants affected by the increase in inflation. You can be sure of this. We will continue to develop our country with stable development initiatives. We will continue our work to enable our citizens to live more prosperous lives in the city and village, from infrastructure to superstructure. We will continue to put “people” first. We have always said ‘people first’ for the past 22 years. We said, ‘We need to empower people, we need to prioritize education, we need to prioritize health, we need to prioritize social policies,’ and we worked to empower our people.”

The festival, which attracted great interest from participants, continued with tastings of local dishes and speeches.