Following is the message President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued on the occasion of the May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day:
“My August Nation,
Dear Youth,
Today, we are having the joy and enthusiasm of the 104th anniversary of the arrival in Samsun of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Commander-in-Chief of the National Struggle and the Founder of the Republic.
I wholeheartedly congratulate you on the May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day.
The day May 19, 1919, gifted by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to the Turkish youth, is a symbol of the rejuvenation by our ancestors of the spirit of resistance with a great faith and conviction despite all the deprivations.
May 19 is the day when the Turkish Nation started to write, in solidarity and unity against imperialist powers, one of the greatest heroism stories of the history by shouting out that it would never bow down to oppression.
It is one of our primary duties to pass the heroism our ancestors displayed for their future and independence on to the future generations most vividly.
With this understanding, we are protecting, with the spirit of a century ago, the blessed custody we have taken over from our ancestors and building the Century of Türkiye, the symbol of our country’s future.
We support our youth in all areas in order to keep alive our enthusiasm to build the great and strong Türkiye, and provide them with every kind of means and opportunities.
We trust in our youth the most while planning and implementing our moves for Türkiye’s democracy and development.
We take pride in our youth who make us immensely proud by making the best use of the opportunities we offer them.
As our country develops and grows, we will lend more support to our youth so that they can realize their dreams.
We can look to the future with confidence because our youth, to whom we have entrusted our vision of the Century of Türkiye, firmly defend our last state, the Republic.
With these thoughts, I celebrate the May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day and remember with respect all the heroes of our War of Independence, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in particular.”