On the 100th anniversary of the founding of Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to confront “imperialist” forces. “We will continue to be successful and victorious. No imperialist power can stop this,” Erdogan said tonight. Furthermore, the president once again harshly attacked Israel and the West during the celebrations of the founding of the State.
Erdogan continued that his country helps “all those who have no one”. This also corresponds to the wishes of the founder of the republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. “We are trying to help the people of the Gaza Strip by remaining firm in our position in relation to Palestine and the Gaza Strip,” said the head of state, referring to the war in the Middle East. The day before, he had already described Israel as a “war criminal” and the West as “mainly responsible for the massacres in the Gaza Strip”.
“Republic in good hands”
“Our republic is safe and in good hands, as it has never been before”, said the head of state after laying a wreath at Ataturk’s mausoleum, in the capital Ankara: “Rest in peace”.
The official Atatürk proclaimed the republic on October 29, 1923, thus establishing modern Turkey as the successor to the Ottoman Empire. His far-reaching reforms included the separation of religion and state, women’s empowerment and a new alphabet.
Military parades for the founding anniversary
In honor of the date, Erdogan made his address to the nation at 7:23 pm (local time). The founding of the republic had already been celebrated with military parades in front of the parliament in Ankara and Istanbul. This was followed by a convoy of ships on the Bosphorus, drone maneuvers, fireworks and the lighting of important buildings such as the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Atatürk once turned Hagia Sophia into a museum, but Erdogan converted it back into a mosque in 2020.