By Gokhan Ergocun
ISTANBUL (AA) - The status quo established by the first and second world wars no longer serves the world, and a new era is needed, and Türkiye is aiming to be among the leaders of this era, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
Türkiye may achieve successful results in the world by benefiting from every development at the global scale, Erdogan said at the opening ceremony of the World Turkish Business Council's (DTIK) 10th Congress, held in Istanbul on Friday and Saturday.
Touching on the Turkish diaspora, he said the number of Turkish nationals living, working, and studying in other countries reaches 8 million.
Turkic states and members and observers of the Organization of Turkic States, Caucasus, Balkans and Islamic world should also be added to this figure, he said.
He said Türkiye is working to improve economic, social and political ties through institutions such as DTIK.
"Thus, we will open a new era together for both our homeland and our brothers and sisters in the diaspora," he noted.
He also said Türkiye has not sufficiently marshalled the power of its diaspora especially in Western countries, adding that weaker diasporas have had more power on the policy side.
- Türkiye continuing to develop
Omer Bolat, the Turkish trade minister, said despite devastating earthquakes this year, Türkiye is keeping sustainability and continuing to develop.
While world trade is in a slowdown period, Bolat said Türkiye aims to reach $255 billion in goods and $110 billion in services exports by the end of this year.
He said Türkiye became a hub in trade, investments, and tourism.
Türkiye continues to diversify its trade products and destinations by reaching more trade agreements, he added.
On Thursday, Türkiye signed a memorandum of understanding for easing trade and increasing investments with the Organization of Turkic States, he said.
Nail Olpak, chairman of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK), said DTIK has two main missions: supporting Turkish people living abroad economically and politically to empower both them and Türkiye, and benefiting from diaspora representatives to promote Türkiye worldwide.
Stressing that the DTIK has six main regional directorates and sub managing offices, he said participants from over 130 countries will elect directors and managers on Saturday in Istanbul.
As part of the ceremony a cooperation deal was signed by Kubanychbek Omuraliev, the secretary general of the Organization of Turkic States, and Olpak, who is also the chair of DTIK, signed a cooperation deal.