Erdoğan says terror, coups or economic obstacles cannot prevent Turkey’s growth

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed members of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) in the "Employment Council" meeting that was held at the Beştepe Culture and Congress Center in Ankara on Thursday.

“Those who understood that they would not be able to block our country’s path using terror or coups have now resorted to economic methods. Until today, we have overcome all obstacles before us as a nation, and we will overcome the ones to follow in the same way,” Erdoğan said.

“Turkey grew 11.1 percent in the third quarter, and 1.5 million jobs were created. One of the most important signs of growth for us is employment,” he added.

Turkey’s GDP grew by 11.1 percent in the three months to Sept. 30 compared to 2016. This growth was stronger than the world’s 20 biggest economies.

“We can succeed if we work toward our goals together. Employment mobilization has produced staggering results, and of course the incentives provided by our government are also important. I would like to thank all the members of our business community who invested in the future of our country and contributed to our employment mobilization,” Erdoğan said.

“We have a goal that we have embodied with our 2023 projects. The way to achieve this goal is to improve ourselves. Our country’s average growth rate of 7.4 percent in the first three quarters this year indicates that we are growing in line with our targets. I hope that at the end of the year we will keep this rate at this level,” he added.

Economic strategists have hailed Turkey’s growth, attributing the strong figures to a variety of factors including the government’s fiscal stimulus, the underlying durability of the Turkish economy, strong banks, healthy public finances, favorable demographics and a pro-business culture.

"Since our growth rate has doubled, if [each of you] can employ two more contracted workers at a time, we will hopefully even attain a greater growth rate," Erdoğan said.

The president said on Monday that Turkey's rising economic growth rate would "silence those who want to portray it as a weak state".

Turkey became the fastest growing economy among G20 countries after boasting an 11.1 percent growth in the third quarter of 2017, according to a Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) report released on Monday.