Turkish businesspeople moving their assets abroad will not be forgiven: Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said businesspeople attempting to protect their assets by sending them out Turkey will “not be forgiven.”

“There have been some recent reports claiming that some Turkish companies and businesspeople are seeking to send their assets abroad ... If anyone is in an effort to stash their money abroad rather than boosting their investments, business or trade, then we cannot forgive them,” Erdoğan said in a speech at the general board meeting of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) in Istanbul on April 21.

“I cannot say a word against those who move sources abroad for investment, seeking exports or trade … We have always been proud of our businesspeople’s investments abroad, encouraging them to achieve more,” he said.

State of emergency

Erdoğan also said businesses should welcome Turkey’s state of emergency because it “guards against terrorism and prevents workers from going on strike.”

Parliament last week voted to extend the state of emergency, introduced following a failed coup in July 2016, for a further three months. It is the seventh such extension of emergency rule.

“The state of emergency only affects terrorists. Now it’s also preventing labor strikes, such as the Bursa strike, which we stopped right away. It’s a struggle against terrorism,” Erdoğan said.

“It upsets us when our business people say the state of emergency should be lifted ... We will continue extending it for the peace of our country. We will do so for the 10th time if necessary,” he added.

Earlier this year the authorities stopped workers in the northwestern city of Bursa, home to the auto industry and a hub for textile manufacturing, from going on strike.

Under emergency rule, strikes, protests and displays of civil disobedience can be shut down on security grounds.