"They threaten us saying German firms will not invest in Turkey’s economy and leave our country. They cannot intimidate us this way,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

 
Erdogan said that German companies have been operating in Turkey for decades.

 

"This cooperation is based on mutual benefit. However, they threaten us to leave Turkey. There are many companies in the world. Any company can be replaced by another. They want to have Turkey in the spotlight. They have made attempts before but to little avail. Some German minister talks about the harm they think they can cause to Turkey. They tried to harm Turkey through FETO, ISIL, and the Gazi events but could not achieve any result. Now, they are hoping for the PKK’s Syrian wing PYD/YPG. However, they are not going to achieve their goal,” he said.
 

Erdogan noted that no German company is under investigation in Turkey.

 

"I invited them to conduct a joint investigation. No step has been taken against German companies. Investment flow to Turkey is continuing. As for the defense industry, Turkey has made a number of achievements in this field. Once we achieve a result about a couple of issues, Turkey will not need assistance from anyone in this area,” he said.

 

 Erdogan said it’s not understandable of some US commanders voicing concern over Turkey’s plan to purchase S-400 air defense systems from Russia as NATO member Greece has long been using these systems.

 

"Insha’Allah, we’re going to have S-400 systems in our country and manufacture it jointly in our country. Let me ask them one more question. Why are they worried about the extension of the state of emergency in Turkey, while different US states declare a state of emergency independently? We have declared a state of emergency because of a terror threat. Why are you worried? If they think they can intimidate Turkey with an embargo, they’re mistaken. We’re not alone. We get support from Europe, Asia, and anywhere around the world,” he said.

 

The president also touched on the Syrian refugee problem, stressing that there are attempts to paint a negative picture of Syrian refugees in society.

 

"Statistics indicate that Syrians commit fewer crimes. There are attempts to paint a negative picture of Syrian refugees in Turkish society and we know who are behind these attempts. We prevented the 15 July coup attempt and now these appear to us as small problems. We must first of all renew ourselves and our party.

 

We have been hearing repeated chants of "Jihad”. Jihad, first of all, is the spiritual struggle within oneself against sin. I believe that struggling against our own desire we will refresh ourselves and never lose the support of our nation. When we try to keep the status quo, then, it means, we are at the end of our journey. We should always be in a fighting spirit. Only this way will we get the result we want in 2019. The success of AKP is Turkey’s success. We should carry out the process of refreshing. We have started the preparations for Congress. The local organizations of AKP that do not fight for our ideas and our struggle cause us damage. We cannot allow this. The year 2019 is a breaking point for us. We can easily win the parliamentary elections. We have to gain 50+1 votes in the upcoming presidential elections in 2019. We have more responsibility in this regard and we should strive harder for our country,” said Erdogan.