Turkey\'s democratization package to be announced at September\'s end

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated Monday he would announce the democratization package on September 30 as \"a new step of the AK Party\'s promises during its 11-year rule.\" Speaking at the opening of the Asia-Pacific Congress and Expo at Istanbul\'s Lutfi Kirdar Hall, Erdogan said Turkey continued to grow based on trust and stability rather than the negativity in the region, and to practice its economic and democratic reforms. Erdogan reminded that the Turkish economy had grown approximately 5% each year over the last ten years and said, \"Our national income has increased by 3.5 times at the dollar level. Our export was $36 billion eleven years ago, but reached $152 billion, exceeding over $155 billion today, increasing more than four times.\"   Addressing the coup and latest developments in Egypt, Erdogan noted, \"steps must be taken if we sincerely talk about democracy,\" stressing that they always brought up these issues at meetings, including the recent G-20 summit in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.   Erdogan also stated 500,000 Syrian refugees were living in Turkey, which had invested up to $2 billion until now. \"1.5 million [Syrians] are in Lebanon and Jordan. The support coming to us from abroad is $135 million. We alone met the rest of the costs as Turkey. I thank my nation [..] All these incidents concern not only the Middle East, but also the world, for that we have to find a solution,\" Erdogan said. Erdogan stated that \"a world that is stuck between the opinions of five permanent members cannot be a fair one\" regarding United Nations Security Council (UNSC), emphasizing that the world was bigger than the \"five\" (five permanent members of the UN Security Council: the US, UK, Russia, China and France) and stressing that steps should be taken for peace and welfare. He added that two of the permanent members locked the system by saying \"no\" for the envisioned steps to be taken, underlining the need for a revolving membership system for the UNSC.    Erdogan also expressed that Turkey is one of the exceptional countries in the region when it comes to peace, stability, welfare and especially democracy. \"We find solutions for each existing domestic problem via democracy and law. In regional issues, we support peace, welfare and stability, and especially the systems where the demands of the people reflect on the administration, where democracy and the will of the nation are dominant in the governmental system,\" Erdogan said. \"If an earthquake, a disaster, a flood takes place anywhere, we are there (to help). If it is in Chile, we are there. If it\'s in Pakistan, we are there. We are there without making a distinction if they are Muslims or Christians. Why? Because we must create an era of solidarity and sharing,\" the prime minister said.   Regarding the Asia-Pacific Congress and Expo, Erdogan said Istanbul was an important trade center on the biggest and oldest \'Silk Road\' in history which began from China and reached inner Europe. \"All religions, all cultures and customs showed to humanity, to us, that limitless earning and consuming are repellent. If limitless earning and consuming exists somewhere, there is injustice, inequality, tyranny and poverty at the same time,\" Erdogan added.