President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed a circular for the Proclamation of the Year of 2021 as "Haji Bektash Veli Year".
In the circular published in the Official Gazette, President Erdoğan recalled that UNESCO included the 750th anniversary of the death of Haji Bektash Veli in the list of anniversaries and commemorative events for the year 2021, who, with his thoughts and teachings, had for centuries promoted love, tolerance, unity, solidarity and peace.
Citing that Haji Bektash Veli, who had invited all humanity to love, peace and fraternity with his quotes such as "Let us be one, be great, and be alive.", "Hurt not, albeit hurt.", "Search for within yourself all that you are after.", "Purify where you live in, deserve what you live on.", and "Forget not that your foe is, too, a human.", identified being good, righteous, pleasant, moral and virtuous as the fundamental qualities of being a human, President Erdoğan noted the following:
"Haji Bektash Veli, with his thoughts based on love for humanity, tolerance and peace that were influential on large masses, made important contributions to the formation and maintenance of social identity and unity in Anatolia. In broad geography, from Anatolia to the Balkans, the life philosophy, based on faith, morality, tolerance, love, and respect of the philosophers and the people of the heart such as Haji Bektash Veli, Yunus Emre, and Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi continuing to shed light on the path of the future generations, still plays a key role in instilling the understanding of unity and solidarity even today.
It has been decided to organise events at home and abroad throughout 2021 to strongly emphasize the great value of Haji Bektash Veli, who invited people to live together in brotherhood within the framework of respect and tolerance, for our country and for the world, and to make sure his valuable thoughts are understood and adopted by the future generations."
Events could be held under the auspices of the Presidency
Expressing that the events to be organised within this scope will be carried out with the relevant public institutions and organisations under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's coordination, President Erdoğan announced that the events to be determined by the Presidency could be held under the auspices of the Presidency.
Stating that logos, posters, bulletins, invitations, announcements, and similar papers and visual documents related to the events will be determined by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism with the relevant institutions and will be used pursuant to the corporate identity, President Erdoğan said, "The expenses of the projects and events to be organised will be covered by the relevant public institutions and organisations. Within this framework, I submit this for the information of and necessary action by all public institutions and organisations in order to provide all kinds of support, assistance, and ease that will be needed to carry out the activities in the best possible manner throughout the year without delay and as a priority".