It
is a great honour and pleasure for us to host such a distinguished community as
we are celebrating the 96th anniversary of the founding of our republic with
great honor and joy.
On this occasion, I would like to commemorate
with deep respect and high appreciation our martyrs who sacrificed their lives
for our country and made it possible that today we could proudly celebrate the
96th anniversary of the establishment of our republic.
The republic of turkey was founded on the 29th
of October 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. His vision for a
prosperous and democratic country, a country with full independence in all
spheres, still guides our whole nation.
Turkey is located at the crossroads of
different regions, regimes, civilizations and countries. Our heritage, social
and political harmony, political, economic and social development enable us to
steer through the major challenges of our region.
Therefore, traditionally turkey has been
following a multifaceted foreign policy throughout the years.
Pursuing this approach, turkey has made
significant contributions to peace, stability and security in its immediate
neighborhood and globally at large.
Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen,
The ongoing conflicts and terrorism with the involvement of foreign players and their accomplices in our region have very negative repercussions and concomitant costs over the people of the region.
In this regard, the Turkish people in solidarity with Turkish institutions have managed to cope with and survive all the existential threats and challenges posed directly by some external elements or indirectly by their heinous internal accomplices.
To be more concrete, we are continuing our
fight against the remnants of Fetullah terrorist organisation (Feto) as well as
other terrorist groups such as Daesh, PKK, PYD and YPG which continue to pose
serious threats to the security and stability of our neighborhood and people.
At this particular juncture, I would like to furnish you with some background
information regarding operation peace spring targeting the terrorist elements
in northern Syria. Due to the Syrian regime’s assaults and these terrorist
organisation’s heinous attacks on the innocent people of Syria, the PKK, PYD
and YPG terrorist elements, capitalising on the power vacuum in Syria,
illegally occupied more than 32% of the Syrian territories. Simultaneously, the
PKK, PYD and YPG terrorist groups, displacing millions of innocent civilians
from their homelands, also changed the demographic structure of the region. At
present, turkey hosts around 4 million displaced people from Syria.
The republic of turkey, from the outset of the
Syrian problem reiterated time and again its respect for the territorial
integrity of Syria. Turkey also firmly stated that it will not tolerate a
terror corridor along its border with this country. However, the PKK, PYD /
YPG, terrorist elements, under the pretex and pretension of fighting against
Daesh, kept on their dastardly attacks on the civilians in Syria and Turkish
people on the other side of the border. under these deteriorating circumstances
and exacerbating security conditions on the turkish-syrian border, turkey, on
the basis of international law and in accordance with the un charter article
51, has used its right of self-defense and has launched operation peace spring
on 9 October 2019.
The three main objectives of this peace
operation are to wipe out the terrorist elements along our border with Syria,
to enable the return of displaced Syrian people to their homeland at their will
and to ensure the territorial integrity of Syria.
Turkey, together with its partners, will
continue its efforts to establish a lasting peace in the region and we hope
that the common understanding reached between turkey and the United States and
later between turkey and the Russian federation to establish a safe zone along
the turkish-syrian border would prevail.
Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen,
Relations with Africa constitute one of the
prime orientations of Turkish foreign policy.
Atatürk’s
motto “peace at home, peace in the world” is also reflected on the Turkish
policy of partnership with Africa, which is based on reinforcing mutual gains
and joint economic interests in bilateral relations.
In
this context, our approach to Africa is one of equal partnership, and is best
captured in the African proverb which says: “when spiders unite they can tie
down a lion”. For turkey, relations with Africa remain a key priority.
As a reflection of our strategic cooperation
with the African continent, turkey will host the third turkey-Africa
partnership summit in 2020.
Distinguished guests,
Turkey and the Gambia have friendly and
brotherly relations, based on a long and deep-rooted past.
Following the mutual opening of our embassies
in Banjul and Ankara, the relations between our two countries keep on growing,
and diversifying in all spheres on the basis of friendship and brotherhood.
All the year round, reciprocal visits from
public and private sectors of both countries, on various occasions further
contributed to the already existing good relations between our two countries.
I would like to confirm once more that turkey’s commitment to the people of the Gambia and the Gambian government has been further strengthened by the new era in the Gambia.
As you move forward to build the new Gambia, turkey will continue to support this new dispensation, represented by democratic and humanitarian values.
I would also like to note that turkey and the
Gambia have remarkable cooperation at the international arena particularly at
the UN specialised agencies and Islamic cooperation organisation. The Gambia
has always supported turkey on the international platforms. Turkey has also
been the staunch supporter of the Gambian interest in those fora.
Another important aspect of our cooperation
has been in the field of capacity building and experience sharing among
institutions.
Turkish government has been actively involved
in the capacity building of Gambian institutions and providing aid in kind.
Turkey, in terms of development cooperation,
particularly through the Turkish cooperation and development agency (TIKA) and
other Turkish non-governmental organisations, has been continuing to conduct
aid and assistance projects in the Gambia,
Regarding education, each year, the Turkish
government, together with the private universities, allocates higher education
scholarships to the Gambian students. The Turkish government has provided 35
higher education scholarships for the Gambian students for the period of
2019-2020.
Distinguished guests,
Availing of this opportunity, I would like to
announce that my tour of duty in the Gambia is coming to an end within few
weeks. Having spent 3 years in the Gambia, based upon my experience and
observations in the country, I could conclude that the Gambia could be more
hopeful for the future than when I arrived in late 2016. Like all my colleagues
from the diplomatic corps who arrived before 2017, I also witnessed the smooth
and peaceful transition of the country to democracy.
As a matter of fact, under the wise leadership
of His Excellency president Adama Barrow this country made great strides in
many fields during the last 3 years. As a long-time friend of the Gambia,
turkey from the very first day of the change in the country gave its utmost
support to the government and people of the Gambia. Actually, this support
manifested itself in concrete programmes and projects financed by turkey. Our
logistical support to the Gambian army, capacity building programmes extended
to the Gambia police force, health, fisheries and agriculture ministries, local
administrations and scholarships provided by the Turkish state and private
universities to the Gambian students are some examples of this ongoing
cooperation.
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am proud to share that the Gambia is a true
friend in Africa and that the Gambian people are brothers and sisters of the
Turkish people. In other words, turkey has been and will always be a
trans-continental brother of the Gambian people.
On this occasion, while bidding farewell to
all the distinguished guests present here, I would like to extend my sincere
thanks and appreciation to all the honourable ministers and officials of the
Gambia government as well as my colleagues from the diplomatic corps. Along
with that, I also wish to thank my colleagues at the embassy for the good work
through these three years.
Thank you all for joining us on this happy
occasion.