Happy 30 August Victory Day

We have celebrated the 102nd anniversary of our 30 August Victory Day. It is a source of happiness that our national holidays are celebrated with increasing enthusiasm every year. It means that our national unity and integrity continue to grow stronger, and for that reason, it is a cause for joy. Establishing the Republic of Turkey was not easy. It is the work of a great struggle. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a great task was accomplished, and a strong state was built upon the ruins. It was achieved through Atatürk's leadership and the resilience of this people. Therefore, we should celebrate it fully and with pride. We should celebrate it without paying attention to, and by ignoring, the discordant voices.

Those who raise discordant voices are generally those who, whether knowingly or unconsciously, attribute different meanings to history. There have always been those who reinterpret history with a different narrative—whether to send messages to certain circles, to attract attention, to be visible, or, beyond all these, simply due to a lack of knowledge—and they will continue to try to exist in the future, but in reality, they will never truly exist.

In one respect, history is, of course, a construct. It is not possible to look at what happened in the past from within the present time and grasp it with all its details. Ultimately, we humans are the ones who read history, so it is not very surprising that each of us makes our own interpretation. We can only trace the details of history to a certain extent by delving into the depths of the past and walking its paths. No narrative about the past may reflect the truth exactly. But there is no need to ignore or distort the grand narratives built upon macro events. No one can ignore the reality of Manzikert, which has been recorded on the vast pages of history. We cannot ignore the conquest of Istanbul either, especially when there are concrete traces of it all around the city we live in. It is also impossible to deny the massive cultural heritage we inherited from the Ottoman Empire. And it is not anyone's place to belittle the arduous struggle for independence that followed.

In fact, it is necessary to evaluate every period of history within itself and to interpret and make sense of every event that occurred in history under its own conditions. History is not entirely a sequence of cause and effect, as classical historians have suggested. Each period must be evaluated within itself, with its own unique conditions. The experiences of each period certainly form the basis for what will be experienced in the periods that follow, but at the same time, each period has its own unique conditions and therefore differs from the periods before and after it. However, as a whole, each of us, every society, every state, and every structure is, in one respect, a product of its own past.

Therefore, while reckoning with history and comparing historical events, let us not forget that our existence today is built upon all the experiences of our past. Consequently, instead of reckoning with our history, let us accept that all events that occurred in the past and all records that fell into history are valuable in terms of forming our present. We must avoid biased explanations and interpretations such as "if there had been no Manzikert, there would be no 30 August" or "if there had been no Alparslan, there would be no Mustafa Kemal." Let us keep in mind that history does not look favorably upon taking sides. As I said, today is built upon all the experiences of the past. For this reason, every actor and every event that makes up our past and takes place on the pages of our history are the founding elements of the construction of today. Therefore, trying to explain the actors, instruments, and events of history with the ideological limitations of today would be an injustice to history.

There are also those who completely ignore history or claim that it consists only of fictional narratives. Moving from the understanding of "here and now" to ignore the past or interpret it as a fictional narrative is, first and foremost, an injustice to our own past and to our own history as individuals. Of course, the place and moment we are in now are important, and it is necessary to live it in the highest quality, but we cannot ignore the fact that each of us, the society we live in, and all of humanity are also products of the past.

It is precisely for this reason that we should celebrate the 30 August Victory Day with enthusiasm. The Republic of Turkey was founded through a serious and unique struggle for independence. If we can live proudly in such a beautiful country today, we owe it to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. But a leader like Atatürk also emerged from within this people. This people, who came from Central Asia, won the victory at Manzikert, founded the Seljuk Empire, then the Ottoman Empire, and built the Republic upon their legacy under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, has reached these days by leaving miraculous notes in its own history with both macro and micro narratives. However, we still need to work and strive without falling into the complacency of the maxim that 'our past is the guarantee of our future.' Let the gilded notes we have left on the pages of history make us proud, but let them illuminate our path to the future without dazzling our eyes.

Happy 30 August Victory Day.