President Erdoğan: Türkiye has one of the most comprehensive social support systems in the world
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered remarks to reporters following the Presidential Cabinet Meeting at the Presidential Complex.
Voicing his pride in the history of the Turkish nation, President Erdoğan said: “We sustained great losses, endured profound sufferings at the beginning of the last century. However, we preserved our dignity, hope and resolve to keep fighting. You cannot find a single disgraceful scene in any of the battles we fought across a vast geography stretching from Galicia to Libya. However, in all of the places we had to withdraw from, the most despicable, horrible and brutal massacres in the world were committed. These massacres targeted not only people, but also all the elements of our civilizational heritage, including mosques, cemeteries, schools and bridges. In the cities that housed, no longer than 150 years ago, thousands of our ancestors’ heritages, including 500 mosques, you cannot find anything today except for a few samples. Similarly, in cities, where 80 percent of the population used to consist of Muslims, majority of whom were Turks, there is almost no Muslim residents even though they were not subjected to such a legal practice as population exchange. We are under such a pressure and siege that they do not even leave us alone to mourn the great losses we suffered. From a vast geography stretching from Crimea to the Caucasus, from the Balkans to the North Africa, those who were able came to Anatolia, but a large proportion of those who stayed behind lost their lives and properties.”
“As the First World War continued to rage and our 600-year-old Great State fought for its survival, the Armenians in Anatolia, provoked and equipped by foreign states, started a revolt and attacked the Muslim population. Across our country, the memories of the massacres and the atrocities, committed by the Armenian gangs, are still alive. Even though he Armenian propaganda expresses absurdly ridiculous numbers, it is a fact that many times more Muslims were brutally martyred by these gangs than the Armenians who lost their lives in Anatolia. Surely, the killing of even a single innocent civilian, regardless of their faith and origin, is a tragedy. In this spirit, we regard it to be a humanitarian duty to extend our sympathies and condolences for the Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives under the difficult conditions of the First World War. For year, we have been sharing with the public a statement, which conveys this sensitivity. However, we never have and never will accept this debate, which should be conducted by historians to be turned into a tool for political disputes both at home and abroad. We believe who resort to such abuses are disrespecting, above all else, the the memory of millions of innocent civilians, who lost their lives in the First World War, including Turks, Armenians and other nations. In our eyes, the statements on the Armenian claims, which are supposedly recognized by various countries’ governments and parliaments, are null and void,” President Erdoğan said.
“We see the statement by the US President in this way, as well. Since it is based on completely false information, we do not find it worthy of even being dwelled on. Mr. Biden should first learn and know very well the history about Armenians. We cannot forgive this attempt aiming to challenge Türkiye despite lacking such knowledge,” President Erdoğan said.
