President Erdoğan addressed the nation after the Cabinet Meeting
Delivering remarks following the Presidential Cabinet Meeting, President Erdoğan said: “With the Red Crescent (Kızılay), AFAD, NGOs, and charities, we have been endeavoring in a spirit of full mobilization to alleviate the suffering of the Gazan people. We have also intensified our diplomatic efforts to get the international community to put increased pressure on the Israeli government. We are doing whatever it takes to open a door that will rekindle hopes for peace in Gaza.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a press conference following the Presidential Cabinet Meeting at the Presidential Complex.
“WE HAVE BEEN EXPLORING ALL AVENUES SINCE DAY ONE TO STOP THE BLOODSHED AND MASSACRES IN PALESTINE”
President Erdoğan said: “We left behind a year marked by turmoil and upheavals within the context of regional developments, and welcomed 2025 with new expectations and great hopes. I pray to Allah that the new year may lead to auspicious developments for all people in our country and region as well as across the world. I hope that the year 2025 will bring ceasefire, peace, serenity and liberation particularly to our brothers and sisters in Gaza, who have been enduring the most atrocious genocide of the last century right before the eyes of the whole world.”
Stressing that Türkiye has been exploring all avenues since day one to stop the bloodshed and massacres in Palestine, President Erdoğan stated: “With the Red Crescent (Kızılay), AFAD, NGOs, and charities, we have been endeavoring in a spirit of full mobilization to alleviate the suffering of the Gazan people. We have also intensified our diplomatic efforts to get the international community to put increased pressure on the Israeli government. We are doing whatever it takes to open a door that will rekindle hopes for peace in Gaza. We will maintain our efforts until we get results.”
President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “Just as faith and patience have prevailed in Syria after 61 years of Baath oppression and 13 years of massacre, the sun of justice will also defeat the darkness of oppression in Palestine. An independent, sovereign, and territorially integral State of Palestine with East al-Quds as its capital will eventually be established based on the 1967 borders.”
“YOU MUST ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR WAR IF YOU WANT PEACE AND LIBERATION”
President Erdoğan said: “Türkiye is located at the heart of three continents, in a geography of great strategic importance where global power struggles never stop. The first condition of staying alive in such a geography is to have deterrence. Being right is not enough here, but you also have to be strong to defend your rights. Even though romantics and the opposition in our country do not understand it, in this geography your strength at the table derives from the strength of your arm. We have repeatedly experienced and witnessed this fact throughout our thousand-year-old history in these territories. Whenever we stumbled, our adversaries rushed to taste our blood. We never have and never will forget which states queued up to tear a slice of flesh from our body whenever we fell sick. The Treaty of Sèvres is engraved in our memory as a testament to what might befall us if we get weak. With the National Struggle, we not only torn up the Sèvres, but also swore not to let our country experience such a trauma ever again. Since 2002, our primary goal has been to ensure that our nation never faces a threat to its perpetuity. This is what motivates us in many of the steps we have taken both at home and abroad.”
President Erdoğan stated: “Likewise, we have been guided for 22 years by our ancestors’ wisdom-filled words, ‘be prepared for war if you want peace’. You must always be prepared for war if you want peace and liberation. Our investments in the defense industry are not for preparing for war; they are for preserving and defending peace, independence, and the future. We highlight at every opportunity our policy that Türkiye is a source of security and confidence for its friends. We, however, have also more than enough strength to break the dirty hands that infringe upon our homeland, no matter whom they belong to.”
“THE EPIC REVOLUTION IN SYRIA HAS USHERED IN A NEW ERA FOR OUR REGION”
“The epic revolution in our neighbor Syria has ushered in a new era both for this country and our region. We see that the new Syrian administration has been working with determination to re-build Syria based on the country’s territorial integrity and unity. Our sincere expectation, desire and policy are also in this direction. We will not tolerate the disintegration of Syria or the disruption of its unitary structure under any guise. If we see a risk in this matter, we will take the necessary steps swiftly. Those attempting to take advantage of the conflicts and the DAESH threat in Syria in pursuit of their aspirations have faced the reality of our region. This reality is that there is no place for terror in the future of our region. The only fate awaiting those who choose terrorism and violence is to be buried in the ground with their weapons. I am saying it openly: no power can stand in the way of this reality. Türkiye has repeatedly shown that it has an uncompromising will to protect its perpetuity and security. If it comes to that point, we may come again suddenly one night. We have more than enough strength, capacity, and capability to do so,” President Erdoğan added.
