President Erdoğan's 'at the cost of your lives' warning to graduating police officers

President Erdoğan made statements containing messages regarding the current agenda at the "Police Academy Graduation Ceremony" in Ankara.

Here are the highlights from Erdoğan's remarks:

To our young police officers, their spouses, friends, and relatives, I say, 'Congratulations.' I send my greetings and best wishes to each of them. I convey my congratulations and appreciation to all our instructors, administrators, and supervisors who have equipped our police officers in every sense with both their vast knowledge and their life and professional experience.

As you know, in twenty days, we will mark the 10th anniversary of the July 15 Coup Attempt, one of the most treacherous betrayals in our history. The coup-plotting scoundrels, who sold their souls to the enemies of the nation and the country, treacherously martyred 51 of our fellow citizens here that night. Today, I once again pray for God's mercy upon our 51 martyrs, who drank the sherbet of martyrdom at a young age and were symbols of dignity and courage.

"WE ARE WITNESSING THE GRADUATION EXCITEMENT OF 13 THOUSAND 610 OF OUR STUDENTS"

Today, we are experiencing the pride of witnessing the graduation excitement of 13 thousand 610 of our students who have completed their training in thirty different schools under the Police Academy. Five hundred thirty-one brothers and sisters from the Police Academy Training Center, two thousand four hundred thirty-two from the Police Vocational School, and ten thousand six hundred four from the Police Vocational Training Center will join the ranks of our security organization as of today. I congratulate each of these children who will take on duties for the peace and security of our country, and I wish them success in their duties from now on.

These brothers and sisters, who benefit from a deep-rooted experience of a century and a half, will hopefully perform their duties in the best way possible in the security units of their own country. I would like to express one point here for our children of the homeland who will receive their diplomas shortly. You are undertaking a very important mission and carrying the sacred trust of our martyrs and veterans. I am certain that each of you will bring the compassionate hand of our state to our nation throughout your professional lives; you will protect public order within the framework of law and justice.

"YOU WILL ENSURE THE SAFETY OF OUR CITIES AT THE COST OF YOUR LIVES"

You will ensure the security and safety of our streets, avenues, and cities, sometimes at the cost of your lives. From organized crime syndicates to drug dealers, from traffic bullies to cyber gangs, from historical artifact smugglers to street vandals; you will fight against all kinds of crime and criminals in the most effective way. You will be the guarantors that our children go to school in a safe environment and that mothers and fathers can raise their children with peace of mind. To ensure public order is fully maintained across the country, you will sometimes have to sacrifice the time you would spend on yourselves and your families. You will stay awake, and you will work in difficult conditions.

We never ignore the demands and expectations of our security organization, which performs a difficult, sensitive, and highly responsible task. In this vein, we have taken many steps during our terms in power to improve the working conditions of our organization. We have implemented reforms and regulations in a wide range of areas, from personal rights to logistical facilities, and from technological infrastructure to human resources.

The appointment system based on duty points, which we recently put into practice, is one of these. I believe that this system, which is based on effort, strengthens transparency, and respects family integrity, will increase predictability in the personnel regime. This practice, which takes into account the region of duty, sacrifice, and length of service, will also strengthen the sense of justice in our organization. I congratulate all my police brothers and sisters whose assignments were recently announced. Finally, with the proposal accepted and enacted in our veteran parliament yesterday, some changes were made to the law on the security organization. I wish that the regulation, which brings important innovations in many areas from personnel structure to training and inspection activities, will be beneficial.