Erdogan: "While we serve the people, the opposition only spreads smears"

Addressing a crowd of thousands at a rally in the Black Sea province of Artvin ahead of elections late this month, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday continued to slam opposition parties for basing their campaigns on smears. "They do smear-oriented politics, but we do service-oriented politics," he said. "This is our difference. For months now, they've been trying to discredit the Justice and Development Party (ruling AK Party) by spreading smears. They've done anything to serve this end and are continuing to do so. They did the same thing before the general elections of July 22, 2007, but we saw what happened then: all this came to nothing. The nation rendered its decision and brought the AK Party to power again, boosting its support to the party from 34 percent to 47 percent. This is the reality, but some insist on ignoring it." Touting government efforts to bring all public services to the every part of the country, Erdogan said, "There is no remote or unreachable place for us. With our service mentality, we place the same importance on the all parts of the country." Stressing that he would determinedly continue to serve the people regardless of any obstacles, Erdogan said the AK Party is Turkey's guarantor of democracy. Erdogan also criticized opposition parties for trying to hinder Turkey's EU accession process and the government fight against illegal gangs vested within the state. Claiming that the opposition is unaware that Turkey is a big, powerful and respected country, Erdogan said, "Early this year Turkey became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. How was this achieved? This took place thanks to intensive government efforts to win world leaders' trust and support." Erdogan concluded his speech by saying, "We didn't go bad over our last six years in power, and this will continue. It is humility that is suited for us."