President Erdoğan spoke at the Turkish-American National Steering Committee (TASC) meeting in the USA.
Highlights from President Erdoğan’s statements:
We hereby wholeheartedly support our businessmen and entrepreneurs, whose success in commercial and economic life is our source of pride. Your unity and solidarity are of great importance in advancing the interests of the Turkish society at the local and federal level.
I wholeheartedly congratulate our business people and entrepreneurs. We are completely for integration, but equally against assimilation.
We want our citizens to stand out in every field, to be successful, and to contribute to the society they live in. But we do not want our people to lose their identity, their core values, and their beliefs. While existing in the society you live in, never forget your own language, your own culture, and your essence. I know that the Turkish-American community is in a good position in this regard, and I am pleased with that. My dear brothers and sisters, Turkey is one of the countries that fights the greatest battle against the scourge of terrorism both on the field and at the table.
WE WILL CONTINUE OUR STRUGGLE ON THE LEGAL BASIS UNTIL THE END
As the Turkish community in America, your support in our fight against terrorist organizations, especially FETÖ and the PKK, is very important. Members of terrorist organizations are not only directly or indirectly targeting our country’s interests, but also our citizens, commercial enterprises and civil society organizations abroad. Members of the organization, who are trying to benefit by drowning American decision-makers and commercial circles in lies, are also trying to fuel divisions and separations within Turkish society. I expect you to be on the alert against every anti-Turkey operation and members of the organization who volunteer as extras. I did not fall for their tricks yesterday. We will be very careful from now on. We will continue our fight against these traitors, who are trying to stage a coup against the will of the people, who have the blood of our citizens on their hands, who are targeting our democracy, peace, unity and solidarity, and whose sole purpose is to harm Turkey and the Turkish people, until the end, on legal grounds.
XENOPHOBISM HAS TURNED INTO AN EPIDEMIC
I would like to draw particular attention to the following issue here. In recent years, Islamophobia and xenophobia have become a major epidemic that threatens the peace of our citizens in Western countries, especially in Europe. Almost every day, an arson attack is carried out against our mosques, prayer rooms, and Muslim workplaces. Immigrants and Muslims are also targeted by far-right movements. Social media and some politicians are literally encouraging the spread of racist hatred and adding fuel to the fire. As Turkey, we closely follow far-right movements and hate speech in the countries where our citizens live. We argue that, just like racism, Islamophobia should also be classified as a crime and subject to legal sanctions. We played a leading role, together with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in declaring March 15 as the International Day for the Fight Against Islamophobia at the United Nations General Assembly.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO LEAD THE STRUGGLE AGAINST MUSLIM HOSTILITY
We have led the decisions taken by the United Nations Human Rights Council and General Assembly regarding the heinous attacks against our Holy Book, the Quran, in Europe. All these initiatives have been a pressure factor for Western countries to amend their legal and administrative regulations and develop new strategies in the fight against the far-right. The preparation of a national strategy document against Islamophobia in the United States last November was a good example of this. We will continue to lead the fight against hostility towards Muslims in the future. My dear brothers and sisters, we see that various interest groups against Turkey continue to put pressure on Congress. You know best the discomfort that such activities create in the Turkish-American public. We must be vigilant against this mentality that tries to poison the minds of our children and youth by filling school curricula with baseless slander. Your unity and coordination in response to these hostile activities will enable American politicians to learn the historical truths.
The political exploitation of issues that should be left to historians and their exploitation by various lobbies will contribute neither to Turkish-American relations nor to Turkey’s ongoing normalization efforts with Armenia. The war in Ukraine, which is about to enter its third year, has threatened regional and global stability. We have been emphasizing since the very beginning that diplomacy should be prioritized for lasting peace in the region. I am openly saying that we see every drop of blood shed and every day spent in conflict as a great loss. With this understanding, we patiently continue our efforts to establish a just peace. I would also like to express the following here. The global system has now begun to lose all its effectiveness and credibility. The institutions whose duty is to ensure peace and security are clearly in a state of moral collapse.
AS Türkiye, WE ARE DOING OUR BEST AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO
The massacre that has been going on for 352 days in Gaza has shown this once again. After 30 years, an extremely brutal genocide is taking place in Gaza before the eyes of the whole world. To date, 1.9 million people have been forced to leave their homes. And these people are struggling to survive in very poor conditions with no infrastructure and making do with whatever they have left. While all this suffering is taking place, unfortunately, apart from a handful of brave people, no visible reaction has arisen from the administrations. Similarly, global institutions and organizations have not taken any effective steps to stop the oppression in Gaza and prevent Israel’s massacres. The Israeli administration, which is rewarded for every injustice it commits, is launching bloodier, more merciless and more heartless attacks every time. The genocide that Israel is carrying out in Christian lands, especially Gaza, also threatens the peace of our region. The recent attacks against Lebanon and the recent statements made by Israel are clear manifestations of efforts to spread the war to the region. As Turkey, we are doing and will continue to do everything we can to stop this policy of occupation, invasion and massacre as soon as possible.
WE HAVE NEVER REMAINED SILENT TO ANY ATTACKS AND WE WILL NOT REMAIN SILENT
We have not and will not remain silent against any attack on the sanctity and historical status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, our first qibla. In all the meetings I will have with the leaders here, I will emphasize that we must increase pressure on Zionist Israel in every way to establish a permanent ceasefire. I must also express this in particular. In many different states of America, including the streets of New York, conscientious groups took to the streets to relieve the suffering of the Palestinians and for the Palestinian people to have their own state. We have also followed with appreciation the activities you have carried out with Muslim Americans in Washington, New York, Boston and Chicago. I expect you to continue your sensitivity on this issue. I pray that God will be pleased with everyone who is the voice of the oppressed Palestinians. I would like to emphasize that it would be beneficial for you to increase contact and cooperation with Muslim Americans and different segments of America. It is extremely important for us to display a strong stance and solidarity, especially in times like these. I would like to emphasize once again that in order for the Turkish American community to be represented in the best way possible in every field, you need to meet on minimum common grounds and be inclusive, not divisive. Please do not forget this. Both our representatives in America and our institutions and organizations in Turkey are with you. We will continue to support you in economy, trade, civil society and other areas. I pray that God will make our solidarity and love permanent. I congratulate each and every one of you again for successfully representing Turkey and the Turkish nation here. I congratulate you. With these thoughts, I would like to thank TASK once again for bringing us together around this table of love today. I thank each and every one of you for joining this fraternal gathering. I greet you with love and respect. Stay healthy.
Diplomatic traffic at Turkevi
President Erdoğan visited TURKEN Foundation in the USA
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Source: www.star.com.tr
