KUWAIT: Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey Ayse Hilal Sayan Koytak released the following statement on the occasion of Turkey's national day, which falls tomorrow: "On October 29, we celebrate the 98th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey. I would like to thank our friends in Kuwait who did not leave us alone with their messages of celebration. We are proud because in nearly a century since its establishment, the Republic of Turkey has been a respected country both in its region and beyond, with its democratic structure, economic and political independence.
"Particularly in the last 19 years, we have made a great breakthrough in all aspects of state and national life, from education to health, from security to justice, from transportation to energy. With this breakthrough, we have established the basic infrastructure for the '2023 goals', referring to the 100th year of the Republic, as well as the 2053 and 2071 visions.
"The world has been grappling with deep, devastating and transformative problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for the past two years. Turkey is one of the few countries that has managed to stay strong during this difficult period and even increase its power. First of all, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how important quality and accessible health care is. The city hospitals, which we have implemented through public-private-partnership, serve our own citizens as well as our guests from abroad. I believe that our Kuwaiti friends will also benefit from the quality health services offered by Turkey.
"In 2020, which was the peak of the pandemic, Turkey became the second country with highest growth rate with 1.8 percent. This was not coincidental, as we continued with growth rates of 7.2 percent in the first quarter of 2021 and 21.7 percent in the second quarter. We expect to complete the year 2021 with nine percent growth.
"Turkey is one of the few states among OECD countries that has increased its employment too, compared to the pre-pandemic period. While investments decreased by 35 percent globally during the pandemic period, they have hardly slowed down in Turkey. We want to increase the scale of international investments in our country even higher. For this, we will transform our investment incentive system into a much more attractive structure.
"We are among the three most successful countries in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies. We will make our drone fleet number one in the world with the introduction of our combat unmanned aircraft system. We are among the 10 countries in the world that can design, build and maintain their own warships. We meet the needs of friendly and allied countries along with ourselves in land and sea vehicles. We currently have seven companies in the top 100 defense companies in the world. We plan to commission the first of our new type of submarines next year. We aim to take our own design electric vehicle off the band by the end of 2022.
"Last year, we made 540 billion cubic meters of natural gas discovery in the Black Sea with our own seismic exploration and deep drilling vessels. Turkey has written a success story not only in exploration and discovery activities, but also in the widespread use of natural gas and its delivery to households.
"After all, compared to the past, we see a Turkey that has increased its national income by three times, risen to 11th place in the world according to purchasing parity, and has set records in investment, production, exports, employment and growth. Despite the multidimensional challenges that we have experienced recently, the progress Turkey has made in democracy and development is promising for our future.
"The world is on the eve of a new and radical transformation. We have significant advantages to capture this new revolution, where many complex elements from climate change to artificial intelligence are combined. Turkey will not miss this new change in the global system. It will reach its targeted levels in all areas. In this process, it is my greatest hope that relations and cooperation between Turkey and Kuwait continue to further develop and strengthen in all areas.
"I avail myself of this opportunity to wish health, happiness and long life to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, as well as the friendly people and government of Kuwait."