Turkish Parliament met at 3 pm on Friday (31 August) to announce the presidentially approved list of cabinet members.

Subsequently, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the parliament and outlined the government programme for the coming legislative period.

He began his speech by underlining the high voter turnout in the 22 July elections and interpreted it as a sign of participatory and representative democracy.

Content of the speech 

Erdogan addressed the following issues:

Constitution: The new constitution must fully represent the basic, unamendable principles of the Republic, namely a democractic, laicist, social state governed by the rule of law. Individuals' rights must be protected effectively, and basic rights and freedoms must be protected according to the principles and standards of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. The ultimate goal of democracy and a legal state is to guarantee all basic rights and freedoms and let people live free from fear and worry.

Human rights: Just as before, there will be great determination to deal with human rights violations by applying a policy of "zero tolerance" towards torture, disappearances, deaths in detention and unsolved murders.

The right of individuals to access unbiased news is a primary condition for a strong culture of democracy.

Copenhagen criteria: The international agreements concerning basic rights and freedoms that our country has undersigned will be put into practice. Particularly the Copenhagen Political Criteria will be applied.

Media: A transparent government is only possible with an independent, neutral and responsible media. That is why the necessary steps will be taken to develop  pluralist, transparent and competitive structures for the media. We will continue our reforms of the justice system with determination.

Violence: We have effectively defended Turkey's justified stance towards "terrorism" on international platforms and will continue to do so.

Economy: Our government considers privatisation an important policy in order to increase productivity and employment.
As our economy opens itself to international markets and becomes better integrated, the welfare of our people will increase. (NZ/AG)