AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the Mukhtars' Day Meeting held in the Palace.
Erdoğan congratulated the muhtars on October 19, Mukhtars' Day, and thanked the muhtars working in 81 provinces for their efforts on behalf of Türkiye and the Turkish nation. Erdoğan commemorated the headmen who lost their lives and wished success to those on duty.
"WE ALWAYS KEPT THAT BOND ALIVE"
Erdogan said:
"So far, we have come together with more than 40 thousand headmen from all provinces of Türkiye, sometimes here, sometimes in our exhibition hall. There has been a day, we have put our heads together in the most troubled times, we have paved a new path. There has been a day, we have celebrated together the successes that made us all happy as a nation. There has been a day, we shared our troubles. There has been a day, we supported each other and gave hope. But for 12 years, there has been that conflict between the headmen, who are the extreme lords of democracy, and the Presidency, which is its culmination. We always kept the bond alive and alive.
We promised that we would make the Presidential Complex not only the center of the state but also the home of the nation. Thank God, we have remained true to this promise, just like our other promises to the nation. Today, once again, we embrace you, my muhtar brothers, and renew our covenant and our people. I pray that God increases our conversation, love and solidarity.
As the President of Turkey, as a brother of yours who came to his position with the will of the nation and the favor of the nation, I would like to express with all my heart that there is nothing more important than walking the road with you, being a brother with you, and I always praise God for this. As long as my Lord gives me life, I will continue to accompany you.
This endless love; It is the love of Türkiye, the love of serving the nation and the country. This love is the very struggle of the Republic of Türkiye for independence, freedom, development and justice. This love will be carried from hand to hand, from heart to heart, like a sacred trust, that will remain in our hearts with our last breath. I pray that God may grant us all the ability to carry this love as it deserves and pass it on to those after us in the best possible way. I would like to express my gratitude once again to you, my brothers and sisters who have devoted their hearts to the love of the great and powerful Türkiye, and I sincerely congratulate our Ministry of Internal Affairs for facilitating this beautiful meeting on this meaningful day.
"HEADMEN ALSO DEFINED OUR MEETING"
Those who cannot understand the unshakable bond between you and us have slandered our meeting with the headmen, just as they do every other action of ours. They used such condescending expressions that they suddenly revealed the national will indigestion that they had accumulated for years in all its ugliness. Those who thought that they were inferior to us, saying 'He can't even be a muhtar', could not accept that all doors of the state were opened to my mukhtar brothers, starting from the Presidency. Those who did not consider us worthy of the Prime Ministry and the Presidency, despite the favor of the nation, actually did not consider you worthy of these places either.
The reason for their discomfort is not because we are talking about them here. The reason for their discomfort is that you come here as if you were coming to your own home. The reason for their discomfort was that our headmen were not elite enough for them, just like Aşık Veysel, who was not admitted to Ankara 90 years ago. Even though years have passed, some people's habit of looking down on Anatolian people has not changed. They could not accept that Türkiye had changed and that Türkiye was not the old Türkiye. So, what happened in the end? Even though they were not happy with it, they had to accept it. They learned to respect my muhtar brothers, who are elected by the direct vote of the citizens, which I describe as the base of the democracy pyramid.
"THERE WAS A HEADMAN'S OPENING IN POLITICS"
As the doors of the top of the state opened to our headmen, this atmosphere spread throughout Türkiye, from city centers to villages. Along with the Presidential Complex, the doors of public institutions and municipalities began to open wide for my muhtar brothers. This work is not just at the local level. Our meetings also had a transformative effect on Turkish politics. So to speak, there was a headman initiative in politics. Those who had previously taken the word muhtar lightly, began to imitate and follow us, sometimes out of necessity and sometimes out of embarrassment.
Of course, we cannot measure how sincere they are. However, we still see the organization of mukhtars' meetings by those who changed their ways when they saw a mukhtar until yesterday, even if it is limited to election periods, as an important step in strengthening the national will in Türkiye and reconciling the opposition with the society. Our hope is that this will turn into a permanent change of mentality rather than a tactical move made from election to election.
"IMITATION ALWAYS ENLARGES THE ORIGINAL"
It is also a fact that imitation always magnifies the original. Whether forced or voluntary. As they imitate us, we continue to grow and become stronger, with God's permission. Here I want to express this with all my sincerity. As a brother of yours who has believed throughout his nearly half-century political life that democracy begins locally, I am pleased that the institution of mukhtar receives the respect it deserves in Turkish politics. I am also pleased to have contributed modestly to this success.
Our Mukhtars' meeting made significant contributions not only to the regression of the top-down, oppressive and arrogant mentality of the single party, but also to the improvement of the personal rights and working conditions of our headmen. As you know, we have made no sacrifices so that you can provide better service to our citizens and fulfill your duty better. We personally listened to the problems and suggestions from our headmen, took our notes and took the necessary steps quickly. You already know very well what these are.
"THERE IS AN INCREASINGLY INCREASING CRISIS STORM EXPERIENCED IN OUR REGION"
As you can see, there is an increasingly severe crisis storm in our region. The Russia-Ukraine war just to our north will be in its fifth year in a few months. Israel's attacks against Palestine continue unabated despite the signed agreements. Before the tension in our neighbor Iran was completely over, a new conflict was lit, this time in Yemen. The attacks of the Houthis targeting our friend and brother Saudi Arabia have caused the tension in our region to escalate. In the attack on the airport in Riyadh, many of our Muslim brothers, including Umrah pilgrims, died and hundreds of our brothers were injured.
Unfortunately, we look at Lebanon, the situation there is not encouraging at all. Good news is coming from Syria, but Zionist Israel is doing its best to create confusion there, too. You know, as I say, we are surrounded by a ring of fire. This is exactly the situation we are in. In such a chaos and crisis environment, we are working day and night to ensure that no harm comes to Türkiye. Thank God, we have been successful in these so far.
"TODAY WE ARE IN THE HEART OF A BIG STRUGGLE"
We kept our country away from the conflicts around us, we did not get caught up in provocations, we did not fall into traps, we did not fall into provocations. We successfully managed all these difficult processes in a smart, patient and common sense manner. Here, I would like to say this openly to you, my muhtar brothers, do not forget: Great nations are also tested greatly. As the Turkish nation, our struggles and victories, as well as our trials throughout history, have been truly great.
Today, we are in the middle of a great struggle. In this struggle, they will never leave us idle as they put a damper on those who want to tear our region into pieces. Just like our heroic ancestors, they will continue to deal with us as long as we courageously stand by the oppressed, regardless of their faith, not the oppressors.
Sometimes they will come against us with their internal agents like FETO, sometimes with their external lobbies, sometimes with their economic hit men, sometimes with their helpers in the international press, and sometimes with their apparatus on social media. They will try to distract us, they will try to stop us from our path, they will try to tear out our windows, they will try to make us give up our claims. With God's permission, we will not give them this opportunity.
"WE WILL NOT BOW"
We will not bow to those who want to establish a welfare system for themselves by exploiting the world and turning our region into a sea of blood. We will be very, very careful against dark and dirty games, all this. We will be vigilant against those who try to pit Muslims against each other. We will always be on guard against those who try to break our nation's hope, demoralize it, and build walls of discord among us. I trust you. I pray that God increases our foresight and foresight.
With these thoughts, I wish your 19 October Mukhtars Day to be auspicious and auspicious again. I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming here once again and honoring the nation's home. I especially ask you to convey my greetings to each of our citizens in the villages and neighborhoods where you work. I wish each of you ease in your work. I greet you with love and respect and pray that you may be entrusted to God. Stay well.
