Making a speech at the Graduation Ceremony of Police Vocational Colleges, President Erdoğan said: “We are determined to break the dirty hands encroaching on Türkiye, no matter where they are. Our aim is to make sure that terrorist organizations can no longer pose a threat to our country.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the Graduation Ceremony of Police Vocational Colleges in Ankara.
“WE WILL ALWAYS UPHOLD THE SACRED MEMORY OF OUR MARTYRS”
Recalling that Türkiye marked last week the seventh anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt, President Erdoğan said: “Seven years ago, we turned a dark night that started with the sounds of planes and guns into a morning brighter than snow thanks to our nation’s resistance. We, all together as the 85 million, remembered once again our July 15 revival, which was inscribed in the history of democracy with golden letters. While the unrelenting suffering caused by our losses tore our hearts out, our fury further increased in the face of the magnitude of the treason we faced. We experienced the pride of challenging tanks and endured the pain of being shot by our own guns at the same time. We once again announced to the whole world that we shall never forget the July 15 even if 70 years pass, let alone seven years. We shall never forget the treason committed against the Directorate of Special Operations and the Directorate of Aviation, in particular. We will always uphold the sacred memory of our martyrs.”
Underscoring that 253 people lost their lives during the coup attempt staged by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “253 children of the homeland died a martyr’s death on the night of July 15. Among the martyrs were 63 police officers. 51 heroes were martyrized in Gölbaşı alone. Remains from the martyrs remind us of the magnitude of the atrocity that took place that night here as well as of FETO members’ savagery. Humanity has never seen such a treason, such a baseness.”
“PARTICIPATION IN THE SEPARATIST TERRORIST ORGANIZATION HAS ALMOST COME TO A STOPPING POINT”
Pointing out that participation in the PKK, a separatist terrorist organization, has almost come to a stopping point, President Erdoğan said: “We have paralyzed it not only inside our borders but also in Iraq and Syria. Within the framework of our strategy of eliminating terror at its source, wherever there is a terrorist formation, we immediately destroy it. We make members of the separatist organization pay amply for the martyrs' blood they shed and for the pain they inflict on our citizens. We held, are holding, and will hold anyone complicit in the martyrdom of our police officer Fethi Sekin, of our diplomat Osman Köse and of many other heroes of ours to account one by one for their baseness. We are determined to break the dirty hands encroaching on Türkiye, no matter where they are. Our aim is to make sure that terrorist organizations can no longer pose a threat to our country.”
“VOLUNTARY AND HONORABLE RETURNS WILL INCREASE AS SECURITY AND STABILITY ARE RESTORED”
Stressing the crucial importance of liberating Türkiye from the scourge of terror inflicted on the country by imperial powers, President Erdoğan said: “It is imperative for us to fully get rid of the scourge of terror in order to thwart attempts targeting not only our security but also our economy, democracy, foreign policy and our national unity and solidarity. We cannot feel secure so long as terrorist organizations continue their presence. We cannot realize our Century of Türkiye vision at the pace we desire so long as there are terrorist elements inside or beyond our borders. Unless the terror barons at Qandil are silenced, we cannot stop their attempts to design our internal politics. As you see, they abduct girls aged 14, 15 or 16 from their parents to Qandil and abuse them there. It is a must for us to resolve the terror problem if we are to be one of the top 10 economies in the world, reach 100 billion dollars in tourism revenues, and become a country that has a say in the global system.”
Underlining that success in the fight against terrorist organizations is the key to the resolution of the refugee issue as well, President Erdoğan stated: “Refugees’ return to their countries will take longer than expected so long as terrorist attacks continue in Syria and Iraq. Voluntary and honorable returns will increase as security and stability are restored. We saw this in the north of Syria. Nearly 600 thousand refugees have thus far returned to the locations that we have cleared of terror and made safe. The briquette home project, led by our NGOs, has provided housing to about 90 thousand families so far. We aim for the return of 240 families, that is 1 million refugees, via our housing project for which we broke ground two months ago. Also, construction works are currently underway as part of a permanent home project that we initiated with Qatar’s financing support.”
