President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “Those who make the mistake of coveting the flag and adhan of the Turkish nation executed three prime ministers, two ministers, and a commander in chief, while they were looking for a way out of the crisis they were experiencing.”
Minister of National Defence Hulusi Akar, accompanied by Chief of General Staff General Yaşar Güler, Land Forces Commander General Ümit Dündar, Naval Forces Commander Admiral Adnan Özbal, and Air Forces Commander General Hasan Küçükakyüz, attended the Graduation Ceremony of the 2nd Term Command and Staff Training of the National Defence University Service War Colleges.
At the ceremony also attended by Libyan Defence Minister Salah Eddine al-Namrush, President Erdoğan addressed the graduating staff officers on the phone.
Erdoğan congratulated the 137 officers who successfully completed their training, and stated that the graduates who would serve as staff officers would further strengthen the army.
Expressing that during a period of global transformation, the heroic army needed its dissuasive force more than ever before, President Erdoğan said:
“Our officers, together with our heroic soldiers, our contracted rank and files, and non-commissioned officers, will ensure that this strength of our army is used most efficiently in the field. Our officers will also conduct the planning, guidance, control, and management of this entire mechanism. The advances in technology have made it necessary to modify military combat methods. More importantly, the widespread use of asymmetric warfare has deemed necessary an understanding and struggle beyond classical doctrines. With the historic reforms undertaken in all fields, Turkey has strengthened its position as a regional and global power with each passing day.”
Underlining that Turkey has been going through a period in which it is making full use of its political, economic, military, and humanitarian potential, Erdoğan said, “We see that with every step we take, with every operation we carry out, with every decisive stance we take, the achievements of our country and the support our nation gives to its State increases. Praise be to Allah, today, there is a Turkey that looks more confidently to its future than ever before, standing more firmly behind its actions, clearly demonstrating its will for the things it will accomplish.”
Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows:
“As we always say, we do not have an eye on anyone's land, rights, law, and dignity. Our only demand and struggle are to protect our own homeland, to protect our own rights, to ensure compliance with our own law, to ensure that our honour is respected. These are the values that the Turkish nation and its army which stems from their hearts will uphold at the cost of their lives. Nearly a century ago, when Anatolia was invaded, they either buried into the ground or poured into the sea the ones who attacked our independence and our future backed by the whole world. Those who make the mistake of coveting the flag and adhan of the Turkish nation executed three prime ministers, two ministers, and a commander in chief, while they were looking for a way out of the crisis they were experiencing.”
“Mankurts who set their hearts and eyes outside”
Noting that, Turkey today has been waging a historical struggle with also a military dimension in a vast area extending from Iraq to Syria, from the Eastern Mediterranean to Libya, Erdoğan continued as follows:
“When you look from a political, economic, and humanitarian perspective, this field of struggle extends from the Balkans to the Caucasus from Turkistan to the Black Sea, and we need to consider even Africa and South America in this context, as well.”
Expressing that all kinds of contributions were important during this period when diplomacy was getting more and more complicated, Erdoğan said:
“The heroism, courage, determination, and skill of our soldiers on the ground are the greatest source of morale for all of us. I would like to express our gratitude to all our soldiers who took part in this fight, from the Chief of the General Staff to privates. I would like to thank our friends who analyzed both the current situation and the future of this process with their technical analysis. The more our Turkish Armed Forces cleanses the elements of the coup-plotters inside, the mankurts who set their hearts and eyes outside, and the lumpen that have lost their ties with their homeland and nation, thanks to Allah, the stronger we are.
The fact that, in the last four years, we have achieved our biggest military operations and success since the War of Independence is the clearest manifestation of this reality. Inshallah, our heroic army will work only for the service of its country and its nation in the upcoming period and will achieve much greater victories and greater successes. The lessons we learned from the past are like lanterns enlightening our future. Making the same mistakes over and over is never a situation that suits us. I expect you, who will take charge of the most critical management positions in our army, to instill this consciousness and understanding to the staff that will come after you. May the Lord be your companion and helper.”