Egemen Bagis: The speech I made today at our national day reception
Prague Oktober 31, 2022
President Klaus,
Distinguished Prime Ministers and Ministers,
Excellencies, Ambassadors,
Deputy Ministers,
Members of the Czech Parliament and Senate,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for joining us on the occasion of the ninety-ninth anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Turkiye. We tried to be innovative with the location and organization of our event. We hope you will enjoy the great view of this magnificent city. I would also like to once again express my sincere congratulations to our NATO ally Czech Republic and the friendly people of Czechia, on the occasion of Czech National Day on October 28.
It is a great and fortunate coincidence that the two nations celebrate their national days one after another on the 28th and 29th of October.
Allow me to express our sincere thanks to the military band of the Czech Defense Ministry, Director of the Ankara State Opera & Ballet Ms. Feryal Türkoğlu and the Head pianist of this esteemed institution Ms. Esra Poyrazoğlu, for their performance of the Turkish and Czech national anthems. Our two world famous Turkish artists will deliver a short concert after the official ceremony.
Vajeni hoste dekuyi, jeste se pripoyili koslavam naşeho narodnyiho dne.
Forgive me for my accent but I tried to say: Dear Guests, thank you for joining our national day celebration.
October 29, 1923 marked the dawn of a new era for Turkiye as the proclamation of the Republic was greeted with applause in our Parliament. The Republic’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who led Türkiye to victory in the War of Independence, was unanimously elected as our first President. Ever since the proclamation of the Republic, my country has achieved comprehensive and far-reaching political, economic and social reforms which have firmly anchored Türkiye among the democratic and modern nations of the world.
We are a founding member of the United Nations as well as a member of NATO, the Council of Europe, OSCE, G-20 and the OECD. Our first membership application to EU dates back to 1958 and the EU member states have unanimously accepted Turkiye as an official candidate during the Helsinki summit of 1999. Throughout the Cold War to the present day, Türkiye has been a strong contributor to the Transatlantic alliance, defending freedom, democracy and promoting the shared values that bind us. In this respect, we have always played a vital role in the security and stability of the European continent as its first and last line of defense.
After decades of peace, the Conflict in Ukraine has once again brought war to Europe’s doorsteps. The repercussions of this war can be felt all across Europe and the world, as soaring inflation and the food and energy crisis impact everyone. It is times like this where humanity must work together to overcome shared challenges.
The main pillar of Turkish foreign policy is based on Atatürk’s visionary foresight ‘‘Peace at home, Peace abroad’’. Since the beginning of the war, Türkiye has maintained a balanced position and worked hard to serve as a diplomatic outlet to bring the parties together. Through our cooperation with the United Nations, and under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, our country was able to broker the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which unblocked over 9 million tons of grain, which we hope will resume again soon. Turkiye also mediated a prisoner swap, bringing more than two hundred Ukrainian and Russians home to their families. Our country hopes to build on this diplomatic success and work towards ensuring a ceasefire.
As we all know, there is never a good war or a bad peace. There are no winners in a war. Both Ukraine and Russia are losing thousands of young lives and we are all bearing the economic and social consequences of this ongoing situation. This unfortunate war has once again displayed the important role Turkiye plays as a stabilizing force for the region and her geopolitical relevance for both the EU and NATO. The Türkiye-EU relationship is not just a matter of preference but also a matter of inevitability for our region and beyond.
The Turkish Republic has a vibrant growing economy with tremendous resources and huge untapped potential. Even more importantly, Türkiye continues to be the only functioning secular democracy that has embraced the universal values of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law in her region.
Today, these common values that we share with the Czech Republic, coupled with common objectives on many foreign policy issues, constitute the essential ingredients of the cooperation between our two countries. Despite the pandemic, I am pleased to announce that bilateral trade between Türkiye and Czechia will exceed the target of 5 billion USD by the end of this year.
We have many joint art and cultural projects as well. I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to visit the exhibition of Mr. Refik Anadol, a globally acclaimed Turkish digital artist and designer, who created a site-specific installation in the Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP) on the occasion of the Signal Festival here in Prague. His work is available to art lovers until November 6th.
I am also happy to share that the special Mucha exhibition on the occasion of the Czech Presidency of the EU at the Czech senate includes an oil painting of Halide Edip Adivar who was not only one of the founders of Turkish Republic but she was also one of the most popular activists for women’s rights in Europe in 1920’s. The legendary Czech artist Alfonse Mucha was impressed by her and hosted her with her husband at his home and took a photo of her to paint this great piece 3 years later. Both the photo, the first sketch and the great art work can be viewed until the end of the year at Czech Senate.
Distinguished guests,
There is every reason to believe that relationship between our countries will become even stronger in the years ahead.
It is an exceptional honor for me to express my heartfelt gratitude to Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Türkiye, our War of Independence, martyrs and all our fallen heroes.
On a personal note this Republic day has a special place in my personal life as well. I met my dear wife, lifelong companion, partner and best friend Beyhan at a very similar celebration event like the one we are enjoying now, in New York exactly 31 years ago. I am grateful to my dear wife Beyhan and to our Embassy and residence team for their contributions to our celebrations. Our special thanks also go to all our sponsors and volunteers who helped in making this event a success.
I would like to take this opportunity to also thank my deputy our Minister Counselor Mr. Behic Hatipoglu who will soon be leaving Prague to assume an important position at the Foreign Ministry’s headquarters in Ankara. He has been very supportive and we are confident that he will continue to have a very successful career ahead of him. Thank you dear Behic.
If you’ll excuse me, I would like to congratulate the Republic Day of our citizens living in the Czech Republic in my native tongue and read a message from our President His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan. An English translation of his message has been provided in everyone’s gift bags.
Sevgili vatandaşlarım, Cumhuriyet Bayramımız kutlu olsun. Ne Mutlu Türk’üm Diyene. Atamızın da söylediği gibi, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ilelebet payidar kalacaktır. Sizlere Sayın Cumhurbaşkanımız Recep Tayyip Erdoğan beyefendinin mesajlarını okumak istiyorum.
Aziz Milletim…
Sizleri en kalbi duygularımla, muhabbetle, hürmetle selamlıyorum.
Bugün, hep birlikte Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin 99’uncu kuruluş yıl dönümüne kavuşmanın gurur ve heyecanını yaşıyoruz.
Ülkemizin 81 vilayetindeki her bir insanımızın ve dünyanın dört bir köşesindeki milyonlarca vatandaşımızın 29 Ekim Cumhuriyet Bayramını tebrik ediyorum.
Yurt dışındaki temsilciliklerimizde bayram sevincimize ortak olan dostlarımıza da şahsım, ülkem ve milletim adına şükranlarımı sunuyorum.
Bu vesileyle bir kez daha Cumhuriyetimizin banisi Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’le birlikte İstiklal Harbimizi zaferle taçlandıran kahramanlarımızı, Büyük Millet Meclisi’nin vatanperver üyelerini rahmetle yâd ediyorum.
Bağımsızlığımız uğrunda bir gül bahçesine girercesine toprağa düşen aziz şehitlerimize Allah’tan rahmet diliyor, gazilerimizi minnetle anıyorum.
Bundan 99 yıl önce ağır bedeller ödeyerek, gerçekten çok zor şartlarda kurduğumuz Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’ni “muasır medeniyetler seviyesinin de üstüne çıkarmak” için kesintisiz bir mücadele içindeyiz.
Son 20 yılda gerçekleştirdiğimiz demokrasi ve kalkınma devrimleriyle, sadece milli iradenin önündeki engelleri değil, cumhurla cumhuriyet arasında örülen kalın duvarları da ortadan kaldırdık.
Türkiye’yi, demokrasisi örnek alınan, ekonomisi göz dolduran, diplomasisi ilgiyle takip edilen, milli birlik ve kardeşliğini her türlü sabotaja rağmen en güçlü şekilde muhafaza eden bir ülke konumuna getirdik.
Bir asır önce istiklal mücadelesi mazlum halklara ilham veren Türkiye’nin, bugün de gözlerin ve kalplerin hayırlı menzili içinde olduğu bir gerçektir.
Küresel belirsizliklerin arttığı bir dönemde barışı, istikrarı ve adaleti tesise yönelik gayretlerimiz, tüm kesimler tarafından takdirle karşılanıyor.
Suriye’deki insani trajedinin sona erdirilmesinden Rusya-Ukrayna krizinin çözüme kavuşturulmasına kadar girişimci ve insani dış politikamızla çevremizde bir barış ve refah kuşağı oluşturmaya çalışıyoruz.
Milli gelirine oranla en çok insani yardım yapan ülke olarak, nerede bir mazlum, mağdur ve ihtiyaç sahibi varsa, kökenine, inancına, farklılıklarına bakmadan imdadına koşuyoruz.
Küresel ölçekte ülkemizin itibarını ve ağırlığını artırırken, içeride de yatırım ve kalkınma hamlelerimize aralıksız bir şekilde devam ediyoruz.
Karadeniz’de keşfini yaptığımız ve evlerimize taşımak için gece gündüz çalıştığımız doğalgaz, enerji kulvarında önümüzde yeni ufuklar açtı.
Savunma sanayii alanında kendi ürünlerini tasarlayan, geliştiren, üreten ve bunları ihraç eden bir kapasiteye ulaştık.
Tarımdan turizme, ulaştırmadan eğitim ve sağlığa her alanda kendimizle yarışıyor, başarı çıtamızı sürekli yukarı taşıyoruz.
Birkaç gün önce yaklaşık 6 milyon vatandaşımızın ev ve arsa ihtiyacını giderecek tarihimizin en büyük sosyal konut projesinin temelini attık.
29 Ekim’de de ülkemizin ilk yerli ve milli elektrikli otomobili olan TOGG’un banttan indirilme törenini gerçekleştiriyoruz.
Maruz kaldığımız onca haksızlığa ve engellemeye rağmen, bir satranç ustası hassasiyetiyle, 2053 ve 2071 vizyonlarımızın temelini atıyoruz.
Ülkemize kazandırdığımız eser ve hizmet altyapısı üzerinde “Türkiye Yüzyılı”nı inşa etmekte kararlıyız.
Rabbim yolumuzu, bahtımızı açık etsin diyorum.
Bu düşüncelerle 29 Ekim Cumhuriyet Bayramımızı bir kez daha tebrik ediyor, milletimize sağlık, huzur ve esenlik diliyorum.
Şehitlerimizin ruhları şad olsun! Cumhuriyetimizin 99’uncu yıldönümü kutlu olsun! Kalın sağlıcakla…
Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN
Türkiye Cumhurbaşkanı I thank you all for your attention. I would now like to invite Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Kurfurst to address our audience on behalf of our host