Ekrem İmamoğlu: 'No matter how much we celebrate or take pride, it is not enough'
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu spoke at the Maltepe rally area during the 100th-anniversary celebrations of the Republic.
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IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu took his place in the program at the '100th Anniversary of the Republic' event, which featured many artists.
Greeting the enthusiastic crowd, İmamoğlu said, "Beloved children of the Republic. Welcome. We are celebrating our 100th year. Our state and our republic are 100 years old. May our Republic exist forever."
"WE WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY POWER ABOVE THE WILL OF THE NATION"
İmamoğlu's statements are as follows:
"Beloved children of the Republic. Welcome. We are celebrating our 100th year. Our state and our republic are 100 years old. May our Republic exist forever.
It won the War of Independence, sent the occupiers back the way they came, established the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, abolished the sultanate, and ensured our existence was guaranteed and accepted by the whole world with the Treaty of Lausanne. Now there is only one thing left to do. We all gave our word together that everyone in this country will be equal and free. No privileges will be granted to anyone or any group. We all promised together that we would not accept any power above the will of the nation in this country.
"NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE CELEBRATE OR TAKE PRIDE, IT IS NOT ENOUGH"
We promised each other that we would accept everyone as equally respectable and valuable, regardless of our differences. We said we would stand by each other. My fellow citizens, because we have remained loyal to the promise we made on October 29, 1923, and because we have supported one another, we are still standing and very strong. The Republic is one of our most important values that makes us who we are. That is why we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of our Republic with the same enthusiasm and hope as the first day. No matter how much we celebrate or take pride, it is not enough...
The Republic is also a social project that we have created together. It is rooted in human freedom and equality. The Republic is the name of a regime where no citizen is under oppression. The Republic has ended the era of subjects who reject the domination of masters and has begun the era of citizens.
To protect our Republic is to send a message of equality, freedom, and peace to the world. My dear fellow citizens, as we step into the second century, we are all faced with the task of refreshing our Republic and our unity. We will do this by healing the historical wounds in our society."