DOCUMENT
Program of the Fifty-eighth
Turkish Government
NOVEMBER23, 2002Turkey, in the aftermath of the November 3 General Elections, has achieved stability
with a bipartisan parliament and a one-party government. We, as the Parliament and
the Government, are well aware of our responsibility to do our best in order to intro-
duce genuine and swift solutions to the problems which have been confronting us.
While we try to find urgent solutions to problems, we will also undertake structural
changes and reforms to make sure that such problems would never face us again. We
are well aware of the fact that the current conditions cannot be overcome by superfi-
cial measures.
Both our Electoral Manifesto and the Emergency Action Plan, which was
announced by our leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the result of a coherent, responsible
and reformist understanding, were appreciated by the public opinion. Therefore, our
Government Programme has been prepared along these lines to fulfil the commitments
we had given to the people before the elections.
The Government will not get involved into unnecessary political discussions and
polemics and it expects to receive the trust and support of the nation. We will work
in dialogue and cooperation with the opposition party and all sectors of the society in
a democratic and transparent way. We will respect pluralistic democracy, human rights
and the supremacy of law and we will do our best to achieve social consensus when
tackling with important issues, for we know very well that numerical superiority does
not mean everything.
We will strengthen the ties between the state and the society, broaden the politi-
cal field, reinstall the trust between the politics and the society and respond to the
demands of the people.
Following the announcement of the November 3 election results, interest rates
began to decrease, the stock exchange began to rally and foreign exchange rates started
to fall down because of the positive expectations and the climate of confidence in both
domestic and international markets. It is imperative to maintain this climate of con-
fidence to solve urgent social and economic problems. We will never forget the
demands and expectations of the people. Our success will not only belong to us, it
will be the success of all political and state institutions, and, above all, it will belong
to the nation.
While the world was undergoing radical transformations, Turkey, unfortunately,
has wasted her time and energy tackling internal problems. Although [a] multiparty
system was adopted 50 years ago, Turkey is still among the countries which could not
become fully democratic, where basic rights and freedoms cannot be fully enjoyed.
Despite its young and dynamic population and rich natural [re]sources, Turkey has
been unable to increase her level of welfare and establish a truly competitive produc-
tion sector.
TURKEY 649