Minister of Youth and Sports Bak: We always stand with the Palestinian people

Speaking at the program, Minister of Youth and Sports Aşkın Osman Bak stated that there is a very strong bond of brotherhood between Turkey and Palestine, and that Turkey, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, always stands with the Palestinian people.

Minister Bak said, "We have gathered here today to cry out against the brutal genocide suffered by humanity, especially by the youth, to the common conscience of humanity.

Official reports reveal that since October 7, 2023, more than a thousand Palestinian athletes, coaches, referees, and sports administrators have been martyred in Gaza. With its attacks, Israel has completely destroyed 90 percent of the sports infrastructure in Palestine. Over 285 sports facilities, including the Palestine Football Association building, have been razed to the ground.

Those sports fields and stadiums, where children dreamed and where the youth had a future, have been turned into mass graves, detention centers, and tent cities today, but all of this cannot stop the Palestinian youth. They are fighting for sports once again."

Reminding that Konya hosted the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games in 2022, Minister Bak said, "This city, which proudly carries the titles of Islamic World Sports Capital, World Sports Capital, and 2026 European Capital of Cycling, is showing the most noble example of sports diplomacy to the whole world today. The slogan of the historic friendly match between Konyaspor and the Palestine National Football Team, which will be played at the Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium tonight at 20:00, summarizes the spirit we carry in the clearest way: 'Our home is your home.' Welcome to Konya. The bridge of brotherhood to be built on the green field in Konya is re-establishing the right to host and the home-field advantage that was unlawfully and forcibly taken from Palestine, in defiance of the international order. Our Palestinian brothers and sisters, our heroic athletes, will not be taking the field on foreign soil tonight, but in their own home with their own true brothers and sisters."

Minister Bak thanked the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports of Palestine, the Palestine Football Association, the Konya Metropolitan Municipality, the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum, and the ministry staff who contributed to the organization, as well as all the guests, and wished that the Palestine Youth Forum would lead to goodness, justice, and lasting peace for the Islamic world and all of humanity.

"We will continue to defend Palestine's right to life, freedom, and future"

Speaking at the opening, Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay stated that he was very pleased to host all the participants in Konya, the 2026 Youth Capital of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, on the occasion of the Palestine Youth Forum, and said, "While we are talking about Palestine here today, we are actually talking about the history of a pain that has accumulated over generations. The Palestinian people, who were torn from their homeland with the Nakba in 1948, faced occupation in 1967, the Gaza blockade in 2007, and since October 7, 2023, they have been facing the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza. With every child left under the rubble, with every home destroyed, the sincerity of a world that talks about human rights and justice has also been shattered. Although dates have changed, the oppression has not. Pain and grief have become the unchanging routine of the Palestinian people. Under these circumstances, for us, embracing the Palestinian cause and standing tall against oppression has become a historical legacy left by our ancestors and a humanitarian necessity. Our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with his historic address at the United Nations podium last week, has been the voice of our nation's conscience and has once again strongly demonstrated that our Palestinian brothers and sisters are not alone. As our President expressed, by saying 'The world is bigger than 5,' we will continue to defend Palestine's right to life, freedom, and future."

The Palestine Youth Forum held at the Selçuklu Congress Center was attended by Minister of Youth and Sports Aşkın Osman Bak, President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports of Palestine Major General Jibril Al Rajoub, Governor of Konya İbrahim Akın, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hacı Ali Özel, President of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) Taha Ayhan, Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay, protocol members, guests from home and abroad, and young people.

News Source: 12punto