Well, first of all, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. Actually, what I said was said live, and it was also broadcast on YouTube, so what I said is very clear. But the issue that upset me is that my words were taken out of context and used to damage me. Seeing where my words were twisted on social media and what they turned into, well, that hurt me deeply. I was really very sad. Because I always claim this: you say something for the benefit of Turkey, for the benefit of the Turkish economy. You say it within a certain framework of respect. You say it so that a topic can be discussed. But unfortunately, we have strayed so far from the environment of debate that the topic you mentioned immediately turns into material for damage, and you apologize for being the agent in this matter. Therefore, after what I said on Thursday, when I saw the reflections on social media, when I saw the newspaper headlines, when I saw how the topics I mentioned were twisted in which direction, I felt the need to explain these things one by one again today. Because they also stretched the interview I gave you in the same way. That's why, if you permit, I want to say one by one what I said, what I meant, and what it was, and I also want to share this sorrow of mine.
Now, on social media, I see this very cruelly. The program crashed. This program was a wrong program from the beginning. The General Manager of İş Bankası also said this. Therefore, this program has so many enemies and so much energy against it. I understand this. Two, wasn't this man supporting this program until yesterday? What happened now? What made him speak like this? In this regard, I say again with the words I used that day: I said inflation is the mother of all evils. And I am in agreement that fighting inflation should be the most priority program. I have been a supporter and advocate of the medium-term program based on the disinflation program, the medium-term program, the inflation fighting program from the very first day. I have emphasized at every opportunity that there is no more important issue than fighting inflation. Therefore, the things I said here, the things I said about fighting inflation, and the things I said about inflation being the first priority, I stand behind all of them. This is a program we have been running for 3.5 years. In the program we have been running for 3.5 years, the people running the program, both the Central Bank Governor and the team behind it, including the Treasury and Finance Minister, us bank general managers, banks, the real sector, we all know how we have worked selflessly and sacrificially for the success of this program. We all hold meetings together. We talk together and try to manage the process together. And in this process, the fact that people who have put in so much effort, spent so much time, and left their families, their spouses, their children to work day and night for this program are being damaged so easily, are being attacked so easily, just because I said something or because of what I said, well, the actors who are waiting for an opportunity are damaging them, this is really a subject we need to put an end to. We need to be able to discuss a topic and only discuss around that topic. That's why the point I am most upset about is that I have hurt both the Central Bank Governor and our Treasury and Finance Minister, whom I have walked with from the very beginning to the end of this, and that I have damaged them with what I said. I am deeply sorry for this, and I want to express this sorrow. Because neither of them deserves this. Both of them are perhaps working harder than anyone in this country for the success of this program. I mean, one day they are in one place, another day they are in another place, and the places we have reached in this program, the points we have reached, to suddenly push this program aside and do injustice to these people would be the greatest injustice we could do. In Turkey, values do not grow easily. When we do not protect values and damage them, it is not encouraging for the formation of new values. People look and say, 'What would happen if I got into these positions? If I can be damaged so easily in a day.' I think this is important. Therefore, the first point that upsets me is this. The second issue is this: in the program we have been running for 3.5 years, we did not start the war with Iran. We did not bring the price of oil to 100 dollars. What I said was this: in a program where we prioritize inflation, in the current war environment, if the price of oil is 90 dollars, if there is a price increase in gasoline every day, if we are trying to manage the gasoline price increase with sliding scales, and if we are running a budget deficit while trying to manage this, and if we have to take such steps to manage the picture inside, in the current conjuncture, if we do not make a revision within the inflation fighting program, the picture we will face under these conditions, which we did not create, at the end of the year, even if we take the harshest decisions, even if the Central Bank Governor holds a bird in its mouth, I said, let's take the harshest decisions, let's show the most hawkish stance. Let's tighten monetary policy as much as we can. I said the place we will arrive at is 27% inflation. Now, to get to 27% inflation, when we say inflation fighting program, when we arrive at 27% inflation at the end of the year, will we say, 'Well, we really made this much effort in this fight, we all paid this much price, and then we arrived at this point'? And within this, in the current conjuncture we are in, our vulnerabilities, the vulnerabilities that have formed, the pressure on the real sector, the fact that everyone's need for working capital is increasing due to rising prices and costs, the fact that financing needs are not being met when they want to apply for new financing because they are already sufficiently indebted. When these come together, the sectors we have supported in industry, the sectors we have tried to support so far, the sectors we have kept under the exception, can also be negatively affected by this. In such an environment, in such an environment, if I see the place where inflation will go, and if I see the difficulty companies are in, can we sit down and discuss this? And here, with a technology transformation program that will really support industry, in the inflation fighting program, let's not give up on fighting inflation. Let inflation run wild, let's go back to the 90s, let it reach three digits, I did not say that. As long as we do not enter irrational behavior, as long as we stay in the rational area, we can discuss things within this program that will fix the vulnerabilities in the real sector. I said this could be discussed, provided that communication is established, communication is established, and expectations are managed. But believe me, I regretted what I said. Because the place the issue was brought to was so far from what I said and its context that I came to the point where it would be better not to discuss it. I mean, the topic I said could be discussed, I saw that it had no ground for discussion, and the thing I wanted to discuss was being used as a tool for damage, so I regretted it very much. That's why let's not discuss it. I mean, let's not discuss it. When the time comes for discussion, when the parties have reached the maturity to discuss, let it be discussed. But this state is very damaging. This state is damaging to the economy. It is damaging to the country. And I am very sorry that I wanted to do something good but this time I became a party to something bad. As I said, because of that sorrow, I am saying what I meant, why I supported the program, why I wanted to open a discussion. Because it is such a thing that in this country, as someone who thinks about the country, who thinks about the economy, you cannot put something on the table as a topic for discussion. I see that there is such an understanding. If you have said something, someone must have made you say it. You are saying this because of someone. I think this is a picture that destroys the ground for discussion in this country and is not very encouraging for people to speak. But the sorrow I have been experiencing for 4 days and seeing its reflections on social media, I was really devastated. That's why I want to explain this in this clarity, in this simplicity. I don't want to get into things that are too speculative or will create new speculation, but...
