Turkish president unveils 2nd 100-day action plan

ANKARA President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday unveiled the second 100-day action plan of Turkey's presidential Cabinet in the capital Ankara. The first 100-day plan was also announced by Erdogan on August 3, which included actions in areas of foreign policy, defense, economy, transportation, energy, tourism, and education. Among others, the first 100-day plan included the opening of the Istanbul Airport, one of the world's largest airports, the launching of the country's first space agency and the approval of the environmental impact assessment and survey project works of Canal Istanbul, an artificial sea-level waterway that will connect the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean, is planned to be completed by 2023. Speaking at the Presidential complex, Erdogan said that out of 400 goals in the first action plan, 340 of them were completed, which corresponded to 97 percent of the overall targets. He said the second action plan will see intensified efforts to undo the networks of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization abroad, especially to target the financial resources of the group. He said: "We are starting the construction of part of TurkStream Natural Gas Pipeline project on our lands and will finish it by end-2019." Erdogan said a "Financial Stability and Development Committee" will be established to strengthen financial stability and develop the finance sector as well as a "Development Fund" to boost private capital investments and generate alternative funding for high technology investments. President Erdogan also announced tight new measures on the 35-km strip of the Turkish-Iranian frontier including border lighting, CCTV coverage, and security sensors. The president said a 1.6-million sq. meter area -- now unusable due to mines and unexploded ordnance -- will be cleared.