Erdoğan Highlights Economic Gains at AKP's Fifth Anniversary

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used a press conference marking the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) fifth anniversary to outline what he described as major economic progress since the party took power in 2002.

Erdoğan cited export growth as a key achievement, noting that annual exports climbed from 36 billion USD in 2002 to 73.4 billion USD in 2005, with a 2006 target of 80 billion USD. Foreign direct investment, which had never surpassed 1 billion USD before 2003, rose to 9.7 billion USD after the government removed barriers to outside capital.

Other indicators also improved, according to the prime minister. Annual GDP growth averaged 2.6 percent between 1993 and 2002, then accelerated to 6 percent in 2005. Per-capita income doubled from roughly 2,500 USD to 5,000 USD over the same period, and total investments rose from 46 billion to 95.3 billion USD.

Türkiye's debt to the International Monetary Fund fell by half, from 23.4 billion USD in 2002 to 11.7 billion USD as of 1 August 2006. The unemployment rate edged down from 10.3 percent to 9.9 percent during the same period.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in August 2006, in its own words.