MESSAGE FOR 29 OCTOBER REPUBLIC DAY (2017)

My Distinguished Citizens,

Dear young people who are the guarantee of our future,

My beloved brothers and sisters,

Today, we are celebrating a very important milestone in our glorious history as the Turkish Nation: 94th anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic.

I would like to celebrate the Republic Day of each one of our millions of citizens who live in or outside of our country.

On this opportunity, I wish Allah’s mercy and grace upon our heroic soldiers who have fallen martyrs like rosebuds for defending our motherland for a thousand of years.

I commemorate with gratitude and blessing all our veterans, particularly Ghazi Mustafa Kemal, the founder of our Republic and triumphant commander of our War of Liberation.

The Republic of Turkey signifies the rearing and reborn of a noble nation from its ashes that prefer to die instead of making compromises from its liberty and honor.

The Turkish Nation once more proclaimed, with its blood and spirit, to the whole world on 29 October 1923 that its will could not be fettered and no one could intervene in its fate.

The ones rushing into Anatolia to loot the inheritance of the Ottoman Empire whom they named “Sick Man” were devastated by the courage, determination and fight that Turkish nation revealed and “they went back as they came,” just as in the words of Ghazi Mustafa Kemal.

The spirit which attained victory in Turkish War of Liberation and brought the Turkish Republic into existence is still alive today, just as it was 94 years ago.

The glorious resistance against July 15 Treachery at the cost of 250 martyrs and 2193 veterans is the indication of this spirit.

That night, all members of the Turkish nation including the young or the old and the women or the men have protected the gains of the Republic.

We are proud of being a member of such a noble and heroic nation who has the "character of independence".

We work day and night to serve our country in the best way without any distinction, with the motto of "There is no lordship, there is service to the nation".

In the last 15 years, the historical reforms we have realized in all areas from democracy to freedom, from trade to investment, from health to foreign policy are the most obvious manifestations of this will.

Today, the gate of hope for all the oppressed people and victims in the world is Turkey.

This is the main reason why we are the targets of the bloody terrorist organizations.

We will not allow the swarms of killer as DAECH, PKK, PYD / YPG and FETO to keep us from our targets.

We carry on towards our 2023 goals by fighting against the headlines, conspiracies, pawns that are continuously thrown at us.

We will hopefully reach our goals with the support of our friends, brothers and sisters, the prayers of the oppressed whose hearts and eyes lay with our country and the unity and solidarity of our beloved nation.

With these thoughts on mind, once again I would like to celebrate our nation’s prideful day, October 29 the Republic Day and wish health, peace and well-being for our nation.
May our martrys rest in peace!

Happy 94th foundation anniversary of our Republic!

Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN

President of Turkey