Frustrated with the delay in Turkey’s production of a national car brand as his government promises ahead of every election, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday targeted the industrialists he tasked with making a national car and said he would apply even more pressure unless they start the project.
Speaking at an election rally in Ankara few days before local elections on Sunday, Erdoğan said: “They should not make us waste time… We have no patience… We will pressure them unless they start.”
In November five huge national firms — Anadolu Group, BMC, Kıraça Holding, Vestel and Turkcell – gathered at Erdoğan’s request to work on a national brand car. There has so far been no progress on the project, which has frustrated the Turkish president.
“We want to have a national car brand in our country, and we want people to prefer it,” Erdoğan said and criticized the companies for taking too much time on the project despite all the encouragement from the state.
“You will either start or you will start,” Erdoğan said, targeting the companies he designated as Turkey’s national carmakers.