Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded harshly to the Peace and Democracy Party or BDP's announcement they would not be paying taxes. Emphasizing that everyone in Turkey would be paying their taxes, Prime Minister Erdoğan states, "Those who do not pay their taxes will have to pay the price. No one will be subjected to discrimination." En route to Azerbaijan, Erdoğan delivered a series of messages at a press conference held in the Esenboğa Airport on Wednesday:
EVERYONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SAY "THIS IS MY CONSTITUTION": "The work we are doing with the constitution is what we wish all political parties would do. Right now as the AK party we are conducting our own studies. It is through this research that we will be establishing a framework. As you know, we have already worked on this. However, during this process a number of things have changed in Turkey. We have a nine-member committee working on this. We have always called on our opposition and are continuing to do so. I do not know how the opposition will respond to our call and our invitation for the process which is set to commence following October 1st. We have clearly explained the following; we are not making any impositions. The party in power will be establishing a commission with the opposition that will deal with all of the basic principles, and will ensure that the content is not devised on their own, and that by speaking with all civil society organizations, academics, members of the media and anyone who has a voice regarding the issue, they will ensure they achieve the ideal constitution. Every citizen from the most eastern, western northern and southern points should be able to say, 'this is my constitution'. The language must be evident. We do not want a constitution that contains excessive details, and exceptions, 'however' statements and includes temporary items such as the one we have at present. We want a more concise and summarized constitution. Our greatest desire is to be able to fulfill this objective.
TURKEY IS A WHOLE, WE CAN NOT DIVIDE IT IN PARTS: Turkey is complete. Nobody can embark upon any operation in regards to Turkey's entirety. Nobody, with their small minds, can exert effort towards dividing this country. However taxes are paid in the west of this nation, those in the east will be subjected to these same taxes. When taxes are not paid, there is a price. Nobody will be discriminated against in this country. How would that make this a just state? We are not investing in the East and Southeast due to any party presence. We are conducting these investments in order for every 780,000 kilometers square of this nation to have the same opportunities. Nobody should attempt to read anything into this. Are my people there? Yes they are. We are bringing them services. We will continue on our path with the same determination. We know what we are doing. We love our nation and our public and nobody will overshadow this love."
