67th General Assembly of TOBB held

Speaking at the 67th General Assembly of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government would not allow any deadlock in the process of drafting the new constitution and that consensus does not mean any group or party imposing their demands on the others. Erdogan stated that his government wanted a civilian, pro-freedom and democratic constitution from the very outset, and that these requirements do not vary from person to person or from party to party. Erdoğan also warned about the impacts of the Euro zone crisis. The budget gaps in Europe are growing, he said, noting that the cost of the moves to enliven the financial sector since 2008 had been too high. To structural and rooted measures were taken there yet, he also said. Turkey was not badly affected by the crisis but there was no ground for drowsiness, the Erdogan said, calling on businesspeople to invest in the eastern and southeastern provinces to support fight against terrorism. The general assembly was also attended by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim, Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazici, as well as approximately 4,000 TOBB members.