Pointing out that Turkey's 5.2 percent growth rate following the global financial crisis was a nice portrait, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek said: "The aim is sustainability. Turkey has gone through very tough times. We maintained the soft landing process smoothly after a very high rise. We became the fastest growing country among OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] countries."

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria held a meeting with Şimşek at the Gaziantep Zeugma Mosaic Museum to present the "2016 OECD Economy Survey of Turkey" on July 15. Attendees observed a minute of silence before the meeting in commemoration of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack in Nice, France. Touching on the necessity of structural reforms for the positive atmosphere in the economy to continue, Şimşek said steps need to be taken to solve the problems once and for all. Stating that situations like terrorism prevented global markets from growing and Turkey's 5.2 percent growth following the global crisis was a nice portrait, Şimşek said: "The aim is sustainability. Turkey has gone through very tough times. We maintained the soft landing process smoothly after a very high rise. We became the fastest growing country among OECD countries."

Explaining that Turkey employed 7 million citizens after the global financial crisis, Şimşek said: "There was a two-year election period. Turkey grew despite regional shocks. Employment environments were established as a result of the growth. Foreign account deficit decreased by 3 percent in proportion to national income. Structural reforms should be made for all this to continue. Steps need to be taken in order to solve the problems once and for all." Stressing that Turkey could enter the high-income class only with a new reform move, Şimşek said: "The OECD says this order will not continue only with coining money, structural reforms should be made as well. Reforms are not easy but not impossible, so steps have started to be taken in this direction."