President Erdoğan speaks at TÜGVA Summer Schools finale: We will not leave our youth at the mercy of the marginals

Key points from Erdoğan's remarks:

I am filled with joy at sharing your excitement at the Turkey Youth Foundation summer schools finale. I especially want to emphasise the pride I feel at being together with you, my young brothers and sisters, whose eyes shine with hope, love, and faith.

I CONVEY MY GRATITUDE TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED

I thank all members of our Turkey Youth Foundation for bringing us together in such a wonderful atmosphere in Istanbul. I convey my gratitude to every brother and sister who contributed to this programme, where we came together with our children — warm-hearted, open-minded, and full of enthusiasm. Dear young people, our youth spent six full weeks at summer schools attended by 400 thousand students across 81 provinces. While embracing our national and spiritual values on one hand, they developed themselves in various sports on the other.

I SEND MY RESPECTS TO THE MOTHERS AND FATHERS WHO RAISED YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE YOU

They competed, had fun, learned, and formed new and lasting friendships. Many of our children accumulated precious memories they will recall with a smile for the rest of their lives. I congratulate all our teachers who guided our students and opened new horizons for our young brothers and sisters with their knowledge and experience. I kiss the eyes of each and every one of our children who, together with you here, will shape the future of Turkey. I send my respects to the mothers and fathers who raised young people like you — young people whose hearts beat for Turkey and who carry the pain and sorrow of Palestine and Gaza in their hearts.

They do not want young people who are devoted to the homeland to be raised — not those who throw acid and stones at police and loot tradespeople's goods, but patriots. They do not want young people devoted to the nation, the people, and the ummah to be raised. But today I have bad news for them. We will continue to disturb them for a long time to come.

WE WILL EMBRACE EVERY ONE OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

We will embrace every one of our young people with sincerity and hold them to our hearts with affection. Today, once again, I thank every brother and sister, every TÜGVA member, administrator, and volunteer who has given everything they have so that new generations may be raised with an awareness of our civilisational values. May Almighty God not let your efforts go to waste, may He turn your endeavours toward good. I say: may He bless this journey you have set out on with victory, God willing. Dear young brothers and sisters, the late Nurettin Topçu, 64 years ago, described the pioneering soldiers of Turkey's centennial — that is, you — in the following way. The founders of tomorrow's Turkey will unite in their persons people of various appearances. Tomorrow's Turkey, which will be their work, will be built on these foundations: blood springing from the soil of Anatolia, labour spent for society, a thousand years of history, a strong state, and a spirit that believes itself to be eternal. Yes, the youth that the late Nurettin Topçu described and commended with these words is right here.

THE YOUTH THAT KNOWS ITS ROOTS IS RIGHT HERE

The youth that unites Sultan Alparslan with Sultan Fatih, Selahattin Eyyubi with Yavuz Selim, Kanuni with Sultan Abdülhamid is right here. The youth that connects the Manzikert campaigns with the defence of Çanakkale, and the national struggle with the epic of 15 July, is right here. The youth that knows its roots, recognises its past, and carries history into the future is right here. The youth that embraces the geography of the heart — from Mecca the Honoured to Medina the Radiant, from Khorasan to Jerusalem, from Crimea to Gaza — is right here. The youth that, in the words of the Master, is the advocate of its religion, its language, its mind, its knowledge, its honour, its home, its cause, and its measure, is right here.

WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE AT YOUR SERVICE

We are very close to attaining the great and powerful Turkey our nation has longed for. Believe me, we are very close to winds of peace blowing across our region, which is struggling with oppression, crisis, and conflict. God willing, we will hand over to you a Turkey where there is no terrorism, where every square metre is girdled with peace, security, prosperity, and brotherhood. God willing, we will continue to be at your service until our last breath.

YOU WILL GIVE THEM THE FINEST ANSWER THROUGH YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS

Dear young people, as one of your elders, I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you today and sincerely share some matters with you. First of all, I ask that you always keep this in a corner of your mind. You are not only your parents' children — you are the children of this nation. Therefore, you will always stand on the side of the good, the right, and the just. You will adorn your knowledge with your morality, and your character with your compassion. You will read a great deal, learn a great deal, and teach a great deal. Those who look at you will feel admiration. The hearts of those who see you will be filled with hope. They will try to turn you from your path. They will try to break your hopes, your enthusiasm, and your zeal. As in the recent LGS controversy, they will slander you and try to tarnish your name. You will never be shaken by any of this. You will not bow to bullying. You will never let your morale be broken. You will give them the finest answer through your achievements. You will give it through the honour boards you will have hung on the walls of your schools. You will give it through the distinctions you will earn across Turkey and the world. Remember, no one in this country can treat you as a stepchild.

Through your education, your vision, your character, and the goals you set for yourselves, you will be an example to those who come after you. Everything has its place, its time, its conditions. Beyond all of that, there is a plan of destiny drawn by our Lord. That is why, God willing, you will tomorrow accomplish what we today, for various reasons, could not. This is the youth I see before me. May God keep stones from your path.

THE MOST SAVAGE GENOCIDE OF THE LAST CENTURY IS TAKING PLACE IN GAZA

I believe each and every one of you is following what is happening in Gaza. Our Palestinian brothers and sisters are struggling with hunger, thirst, and lack of medicine in Gaza, 90 percent of which the Zionist murder network has razed to the ground. Every day we receive news of the martyrdom of innocent babies, children, and women with empty stomachs. The innocents in Gaza are collapsing from exhaustion at what are called food distribution centres but are in fact slaughter centres. They are becoming targets of treacherous bullets. Mothers and fathers are risking their lives, walking kilometres through rubble, to obtain a sack of flour or access a sip of water. Scenes far worse than those we would only expect to see in concentration camps are unfolding right now in Gaza before the eyes of the so-called civilised world. I state this once again, openly and clearly today. The most savage genocide of the last century is taking place in Gaza. In Gaza, it is not only children, not only babies, but everything that exists in the name of humanity that is being destroyed at the hands of a handful of criminals who feed on the blood of the innocent.

THE COUNTRY THAT DEFENDS THE RIGHTS OF THE OPPRESSED IN GAZA IS TURKEY

Turkey is the country that has responded most forcefully to the savagery in Gaza from the very first day. The government that fearlessly defends the rights of the oppressed in Gaza is the government of the Republic of Turkey. The administration that stands firm against the terrorist state of Israel is our administration. I particularly want you and your families to know this. We have not left our brothers and sisters in Gaza alone for a single moment. We stood by our brothers and sisters with humanitarian aid exceeding 101 thousand tonnes. We stood by the Palestinian people by completely halting trade with Israel. We stood by Gaza through our diplomatic contacts and our efforts in the international arena. We stood by Gaza and the oppressed people of Gaza with countless forms of support and assistance that we cannot even enumerate here.

WERE YOU NOT THE ONES WHO CALLED THE PEOPLE OF GAZA TERRORISTS?

Despite those who slandered the Palestinian resistance as terrorism in order to win Israel's approval, we did not turn our backs on the heroic children of Gaza. We were threatened and subjected to many covert and overt operations. But we never gave up defending Palestine and the Palestinian cause. Dear young people, dear brothers and sisters, now you see certain people coming forward and attempting to question our unwavering support for the Palestinian cause. To those who address our government with indecent and improper language, I say only this: who are you to question our sensitivity toward Palestine? Were you not the ones who, until just yesterday, called the people of Gaza who were defending their land terrorists? If they now say they stand with the oppressed, if they stood with the oppressed, then where were you for 14 years in Syria? Where were you when 1 million people were being slaughtered, when our Syrian brothers and sisters were being subjected to oppression and torture? Why did you not raise your voice, why did you not speak out when barrel bombs were raining down on the oppressed in Aleppo, Deraa, Homs, and Hama? Were you not the ones who, while Karabakh was waging its struggle for liberation with our country's support, slandered dear Azerbaijan by siding with the occupiers? Were you not the ones who, when we went to help Libya, said what you said about Libya? Excuse me, but you cannot fool anyone.

HISTORY IS RECORDING OUR STEADFAST STANCE

Because you have never stood by the oppressed. Because you have never looked at the Middle East through the window of brotherhood. You have not understood what it means to be part of the ummah. You have never felt this sentiment in your hearts. Now you have come out and are criticising us without looking at your own pitch-black record. You are criticising our cabinet members. You are speaking disparagingly about our ministers. Whatever you do, you will not be able to tarnish our name. You will not be able to tear out the love of Turkey — the love of Tayyip Erdoğan — from the hearts of the Palestinian people. You will not be able to prevent the Turkish nation from reuniting with its brothers and sisters after a century. Even if you deny it, history is recording our steadfast stance. Turkey's hard-fought struggle is adding to the pride of believing hearts. We also believe with all our hearts in this: that red door of freedom will surely be opened. Our brothers and sisters in Gaza will, God willing, live freely and forever on that blessed land watered with the blood of martyrs in their own homeland. When that blessed day comes, God willing, we will be there too. We will be there with the peace of heart that comes from fulfilling our duty of brotherhood. We will be there with the pride of having proclaimed the truth in difficult times. We will be there with the honour of having stood firm against the oppressors.