Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Erdoğan stated that the non-governmental organizations he received, from workers to employers, public servants to farmers, tradesmen to industrialists, represented all segments of the nation, “As I have always stated, the greatest strength of Turkey is this unity, fraternity and solidarity. As long as we're together like a fist, we're locked together like the bricks of a wall, and by the grace of Allah, there's no power that can bring this country low.”

Reporting that Neyrab Airport was rendered unusable yesterday, Erdoğan addressed the NGO representatives:

“Our expectation from you is that you support this struggle with your efforts in your own field. If it were not for how far Turkey has come in the defense industry in the last 17 years, we would be trying to carry out such a fight in much more difficult circumstances. Because depending on others to send weapons and ammunition in order to fight would have left us empty handed like in the past. That is what they did.”

- “We have domestic UAVs and UCAVs”

Stating that Turkey is producing its own weapons and continuing to fight with them, Erdoğan said:

“If we are able carry out our operations without the need for anyone's assent, support, help, this is because of our hard work and results we have achieved so far. Now we have domestic UAVs, UCAVs, and with all this, we're conducting operations with them. In order to look at our future more securely, we need to continue our path by tightening our ranks with you, our military in the field, trade, industry, agriculture, production. By working harder, producing more, exporting more, providing more employment, you will earn more and more for our country. I pray for the grace of Allah upon our martyrs. I hope for the rapid recovery to our veterans. Our hope is to prevent further bloodshed by resolving this fight as soon as possible in victory. For this reason, we are making use of all diplomatic channels in addition to our fight in the field.”

President Erdoğan, ended his speech by thanking the representatives of non-governmental organizations for their support of Operation Spring Shield, for sharing the pain of the martyrs, for confirming their unity and solidarity.