President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a video message to the 9th Ordinary General Assembly of the Union of International Democrats (UID), which is headquartered in Germany.
President Erdoğan greeted UID members and General Assembly participants and also extended his greetings to Turkish citizens living in Europe and other parts of the world, whose achievements are a constant source of pride.
He prayed to Allah that the General Assembly would bring blessings and expressed his belief that the will expressed at the General Assembly would yield productive and beneficial results not only for UID members, but also for European Turks and the entire Turkish diaspora, which numbers more than 7 million people.
President Erdoğan thanked those working selflessly under the umbrella of UID for the peace and well-being of citizens living abroad, as well as civil society organisations working with a strong sense of commitment for Turkish citizens who have made their countries of residence a second home.
Stating that UID assumes a vital responsibility for the presence of the Turkish nation abroad through the projects and activities it carries out, President Erdoğan said:
''The UID family is making a concerted effort to help our brothers and sisters who carry a longing for their homeland in their hearts to improve their standing in the countries where they live, preserve their identity and culture, and contribute as much as possible to the societies they live in, including through democratic participation. At the same time, it is making significant efforts to address problems such as cultural racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia. I congratulate the Union of International Democrats on its highly successful work across a very broad geography, made possible by its institutional experience and dynamic teams, and I wish you every success in your future endeavours. Inshallah, we will continue to support and assist you through our Party’s Foreign Relations Department, as well as through institutions and organisations such as the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities. We will never leave you, our brothers and sisters living abroad, at the mercy of either xenophobic movements in the countries where you live or morally bankrupt individuals who demean our citizens by calling them, if you will excuse the expression, ‘fools’.''
President Erdoğan prayed to Almighty Allah to grant His mercy to all the elders and brothers and sisters who had contributed to the Union’s development since its establishment and had since passed away, and wished the 9th Ordinary General Assembly every success.