Turkey cannot turn its back on the region - Erdogan
Turkey has neither the chance nor the right to turn its back on
its region or the world at large, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has said, according to Anadolu agency.
The president's remarks came during a reception held Thursday at
the presidential complex in capital Ankara where he hosted a group
of youth in honor of Turkey's May 19 Youth and Sports Day.
Noting that the process that began on May 19, 1919 led to the
establishment of the Republic of Turkey, Erdogan said that the
country's fight for its independence and its future had not ended,
and would continue.
"Even when we look back on the 93 years of our history of the
republic, we can see that our struggle for independence kept going
under different names.
"The events that are happening in the Balkans, Caucasus, north and
south are all closely related to our past and present.
"Who can say, claim or imagine that the things happening in Syria,
Iraq and the Middle East have nothing to do with us?
"Or the developments in Libya and North Africa? Or in the Black
Sea, Mediterranean and Aegean?" Erdogan added.
"You can expand this circle as much as you like from South Asia to
eastern Europe. We have neither the chance nor the right to turn
our back on our region and the world. Since we have such big
responsibilities, our duties are that much heavier," he said.
May 19 Youth and Sports Day marks the beginning of Turkey's War of
Independence, and the emergence of modern Turkey, which is
celebrated through official ceremonies across the nation.
May 19, 1919, was the day Mustafa Kemal, later to become Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk, arrived in the Black Sea city of Samsun from
Istanbul to organize the war that saw the remnants of the Ottoman
Empire transformed into modern Turkey four years later.
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