Erdogan unveils new projects at Istanbul mega-rally

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 24: Addressing voters at a mega-rally in Istanbul Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced several projects to create jobs and benefit the economy. The rally of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and its election ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) came just one week before Turkey faces critical local polls on March 31. The rally was headlined by Erdogan, also the AK Party head, along with MHP leader Devlet Bahceli and Binali Yildirim, the party’s Istanbul mayoral candidate. Erdogan said the rally drew 1.6 million supporters, citing official figures. He said Turkey would establish a technology development facility worth 3.5 billion Turkish liras ($600 million), with a view to producing technology using its own resources. He added that Istanbul, Turkey’s commercial capital, would host a "giant" 900 million Turkish liras ($156 million) movie production facility. "We’re establishing the 6 billion Turkish liras [$1.04 billion] Tuzla Biotechnology Valley, where antibodies, vaccines, lenses, and chemotherapy drugs will be produced. It will create 20,000 jobs," he vowed. President Erdogan went on to say that 17 large-scale rehabilitation centers would be set up to assist 200,000 disabled people in Istanbul. (Footage by Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)