President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said they had made significant progress towards resolving the terrorism issue at a ceremony commemorating Atatürk, held at the Atatürk Supreme Council for Culture, Language and History. Erdoğan also expressed his goal of drafting a civilian constitution. His speech addressed rights and freedoms, the will of the nation and the role of cultural institutions in collective memory.
Erdoğan said they aimed to deliver a civilian constitution for the nation and regarded it as one of the important services they wanted to provide to the country. He coupled this message with an emphasis on solidarity between the state and the nation and on a shared future. In his speech, he discussed the constitution within the same framework as his political assessments of the will of the nation, rights and freedoms.
Reflecting on the past, he argued that they had ended tutelage, lifted bans and expanded rights and freedoms. He also said they had removed obstacles to the will of the nation. These statements formed part of Erdoğan’s assessment of his own time in power.
On terrorism, he said: “We have made significant progress towards resolving the terrorism issue, which has been a shackle on Türkiye.” Erdoğan followed these remarks by saying they had strengthened defences against external attacks and bolstered the home front. For cultural institutions, the preservation of collective memory was a prominent theme. Erdoğan linked safeguarding the Republic to strengthening the institutions that shape the nation’s memory, saying these institutions brought history into the present. Praising the work of the Atatürk Supreme Council for Culture, Language and History, he thanked the staff of institutions serving the Turkish language, history and civilisation.
Erdoğan, who began his speech by commemorating Atatürk and the martyrs, described the National Struggle as one of history’s turning points. He also discussed the founding of the Republic in terms of sovereignty passing to the nation.
Erdoğan spoke at a ceremony commemorating Atatürk at the Atatürk Supreme Council for Culture, Language and History. Erdoğan said they had made significant progress towards resolving the terrorism issue. This was the President’s assessment of progress in the process.
Highlights of the speech
What did he say about a civilian constitution?
What messages were conveyed to citizens and cultural institutions?
Questions and answers about the speech
Where did Erdoğan make his remarks?
What did he say about the terrorism issue?
This report is based on NTV’s reporting sourced from Anadolu Agency.