Almost there: 99 years of the Turkish Republic

Today, the Turkish Republic is celebrating its 99^thyear. Just a year ahead of the Centennial, we are excited, happy and proud to be a part of this almost century-long success story.

The story didn’t write itself. At the beginning, the Turkish nation had to make great sacrifices to carry their prized creation to modernity. The lands that found peace with the Treaty of Lausanne were at that moment in time ravaged by the occupation of foreign forces. Numerous cities and towns were razed to the ground. The people were exhausted. The economy and infrastructure were in a disastrous state. Almost ninety percent of the towns were deprived of proper roads, schools, health facilities and postal services. The literacy rate of the country was just around 5 percent. The country had to revitalize, having to rely only on itself.

Thankfully, it had a leader for the ages to do just that -Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He transformed the sacrifices of the Turkish people to courage, pride and power for them, and led them forward. Always forward.

Turkish people, who are known for their hardworking, selfless, adaptive, courageous and loyal nature, embraced the vast reforms initiated by Atatürk and turned the country into a modern, democratic, economically developed, social state in a dizzyingly short period. Turkish women gained their civil rights decades earlier than the most women in the world. The country became a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and joined NATO in 1952.

Situated at one of the most troublesome regions in the world, Türkiye quickly adapted itself to the post-Cold War reality that exacerbated the volatile situation in its vicinity. This called for the proactive, dynamic and humanitarian approaches in Turkish foreign policy that are visible today. In parallel to its economic and diplomatic extroversion initiatives, Türkiye increased its policy footprint in both global and regional matters.

In the meantime, the humanitarian aspect of the Turkish culture continued to be at the forefront. From Sephardic Jews fleeing from persecution in Spain in 1492 to Polish and Hungarian revolutionaries in 19^thcentury, from Tatars, Circassians and finally Russians who fled either from Tsarist or Bolshevik Russia to German intellectuals leaving Nazi Germany in 1930s, and to the people from the different parts of the world asking for a shelter, the homes and lands of the Turkish people have always been a safe haven. Today, Türkiye is biggest host of refugees sheltering almost 5 million irregular migrants, while standing out as one of the most generous countries in the world.

Standing at the 11^th place in the Gross Domestic Product based on purchasing power parity, Türkiye is among the major economies of the world as a member of G-20.

Proud to have the second largest army of NATO and being among the top contributors to the Alliance, Türkiye now reached a remarkable 70 percent self-reliability rate in its defense industry, also enabling it to contribute to its allies and friendly countries’ defense infrastructure as well.

Following the “peace at home, peace in the world” motto of Atatürk, Türkiye is a dedicated defender of conflict resolution through peaceful means and dialogue. And it is not a cliché for Türkiye, its efforts find its reflections on the ground, and on the table as well. Most significantly in Libya, Syria, and Caucasus, the active, dynamic and realistic Turkish diplomacy still contributes to establishing stability. In the war between Russia and Ukraine, the sole achievements gained at the table so far, such as the grain deal and the exchange of prisoners, were made possible with the help of Turkish efforts.

Today, with its deep statehood experience, robust institutions, developed economy, rich culture, scientific achievements, human resources, deterrent and peaceful military force, influential diplomatic efforts and established regional and global alliances, Türkiye rewrites its success story over and over again.

The century-long efforts of the Turkish people are paying off, and we intend to keep it that way…

Happy Republic Day, Türkiye!