ANKARA - Meeting of the Economic and Social Council held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended.
At the end of the meeting, the Council released a statement to mark the 80th anniversary of foundation of the Republic of Turkey.
The statement said, ''national income per capita was 45 U.S. dollars in 1923 when the Republic of Turkey was founded. Today, it has reached to 3 thousand 500 U.S. dollars. Exports from Turkey, which were 51 million U.S. dollars in 1923, increased up to 46 billion U.S. dollars in 2003.''
''In the first days of the Republic, the rate of literacy was 19 percent. This rate has risen to 88 percent today. The rate of literacy among women has increased from 10 percent in 1923 to 81 percent in 2003,'' it said.
Noting that urban population was about 24 percent in the first years of the Republic, the statement noted that the rate of urban population increased to 67 percent in 2003.
''In the 80th year of the Republic, all sections of our society targets a Turkey which becomes one the ten biggest economies of the world, which is a member of the European Union (EU), which diminished regional imbalances, and which increases its democracy standards by including its citizen in political decision processes,'' it stressed.
The statement added, ''the guarantee of the Republic is the will of our people to protect ideals of the Republic. Democracy providing our citizens with the opportunities of explaining their views freely and participating in the administration, freedom of religion and conscience, secularism and the principle of social state of law are the indispensable elements of our Republic.''
(UK-AY) 07.11.2003