Erdoğan's first statement on the missile that entered Turkish airspace: We are issuing our warnings clearly, we are not leaving the security of our airspace to chance!

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at an Iftar program with the Mehmetçik (Turkish soldiers).

President Erdoğan made statements at the Iftar program with the Mehmetçik at the Special Forces Command. While mentioning the NATO exercise in Germany, Erdoğan said that the Turkish Army received praise. Erdoğan alluded to the opposition's ecology-based criticisms with the words, "If we had listened to 'don't conduct missile tests, the fish are getting scared,' we certainly would not have achieved these things."

Here are the highlights from Erdoğan's statements:

"May Allah always make our army victorious"

"In this blessed month, when the gates of mercy are wide open, I am very pleased to be with you, the heroic members of the home of heroes, and you, the elite soldiers of our Special Forces Command. May your Iftar be blessed. May the Lord accept the fasts you are keeping. I thank our Minister of National Defense and our Chief of General Staff for making this beautiful meeting possible. Today, I once again wish superior success from the Lord to each of our soldiers who serve in every corner of our homeland at the cost of their lives to ensure the survival of our state and the security of our nation. May the Lord be the helper of all our security forces, including the military, police, gendarmerie, security guards, and intelligence officers. May He protect them from all kinds of accidents, troubles, attacks, and treachery, and may He always make our army victorious. Of course, on this blessed evening, I remember with mercy all our martyrs who fell for their homeland, their nation, and their flag, and I say may their souls be joyful, their stations blessed, and their places in heaven, God willing.

I pray for God's mercy especially for Major Bülent Albayrak, Major Murat Kemal Yetişen, Captain Ertuğrul Güler, Captain Burak Coşkun, First Lieutenant Enes Demir, the hero of July 15, Staff Sergeant Major Ömer Halis Demir, Staff Sergeant Major Harun Turhan, Specialist Sergeant Nurettin Tokyürek, Specialist Sergeant Murat Yıldırım, Specialist Sergeant Selçuk Paker, and all the heroes who could not fit into their coffins, whose names we have engraved in our hearts as 86 million people. I also remember with gratitude all our veterans who took part in the same sacred struggle and reached the rank of veteran but are no longer with us today, and I wish long and prosperous lives from the Lord to our living veterans.

"If we stand out as an island of stability, we owe this to the deterrence of our heroic army"

We are members of a religion that heralds that martyrs do not die, but rather that they live. The noble souls of our martyrs will hopefully show us the way, guide us, and illuminate our path in the blessed march of our nation. I would like to express this here with great pride. Our Bordeaux Berets, the apple of the eye of the Turkish Armed Forces, have written epics both at home and abroad, especially in the fight against terrorism.

The most commonly used definition for Turks is the definition of a soldier nation. Throughout history, there have been those who set a lifespan for us, those who defined us as the sick man, and those who thought they could tear us out of these lands.

'If we stand out today as an island of stability in the middle of a ring of fire surrounding us, we owe this first and foremost to our national character that never accepts captivity, and to the deterrence of our heroic army. The Republic of Turkey has the Turkish Armed Forces, which dazzle the whole world with their political, diplomatic, and economic power, training, equipment, and vision. We continue to strengthen our heroic army, which our ancestors encouraged for centuries with cries of 'Oh glorious army, oh glorious soldier,' by providing all kinds of support.

"We are not leaving the security of our airspace to chance"

We completed defense and aviation exports with a record figure. In the NATO exercise in Germany, our armed forces both made us proud and received appreciation from our allies. If we had listened to 'don't conduct missile tests, the fish are getting scared,' we certainly would not have achieved these things. If we want to live in these lands, which are our eternal homeland, we must constantly increase our deterrence. In these troubled days, we are not leaving the security of our borders and our airspace to chance.

As in the incident this morning, we are taking every measure and making the necessary interventions in close consultation with our NATO allies. We are issuing our warnings in the clearest way possible to ensure that a similar incident does not happen again. Our will and capacity to ensure the security of our country and our nation are at the highest level. We will definitely build the Century of Turkey. By breaking all the games and overcoming all the obstacles, we will hopefully succeed in leaving this country to our children as a legacy they will be proud of, without falling into the traps they want to lure us into."

News Source: 12punto