Meeting with young people at the Samsun Metropolitan Municipality PETEK Youth Center, President Erdoğan spoke about the history of Samsun, saying, "I am very pleased to be with you in Samsun, the gateway to the Black Sea and the first city where we lit the torch of independence. We have experienced, and are experiencing, a truly meaningful day in Samsun for us. We are holding another one of our Youth Meetings here in Samsun, where we have come to inaugurate our city hospital. As in every youth meeting, today we will talk about Turkey, the world, and our future with you. I want to state this right at the beginning of my remarks. The Independence March that began in Samsun 107 years ago continues today, thank God, in the direction of a great and powerful Turkey. Look, two powerful symbols of this route, which extends from independence to the future, are joining us right behind us. On one side is the Bandırma Ferry, and right next to it is the TCG Anadolu ship," he said.
"We kept our nation away from dangers"
"This route, which started with the Bandırma Ferry and continues with the TCG Anadolu, is also a sign of where Turkey has come from and where it is now," Erdoğan said, continuing as follows:
"Thank God. To date, we have succeeded in bringing Turkey to safe shores in stormy seas. In a difficult period when our geography is struggling with crises, wars, and conflicts, we have kept our nation away from these dangers. We have achieved historic successes and historic victories for our country in many fields. Tomorrow, you will take the captain's chair of Turkey. You will shoulder the trust of not only 86 million people but also hundreds of millions of oppressed people who have pinned their hopes on Turkey. I believe that all of you, with the awareness of this responsibility you carry, will serve our country and our nation in the best way possible and bring Turkey to much better places in every field."
"They recognized no limits in wasting the generations that would lift Turkey up"
Addressing the youth in his speech, Erdoğan said, "Dear young people, youth is a link of continuity and survival. It is the most critical human resource that carries the past to the future. We have always believed in this: Youth must have a sublime cause that they believe in and follow above all else. This cause should not be based on fleeting, day-to-day whims, but on a powerful ideal that encompasses centuries. In the words of the late Cemil Meriç, this cause is to reconquer our wisdom, to open the treasures of our ancestors' contemplation, especially to the curiosity of today's generations—that is, the desire to see and understand—in a word, to connect today to yesterday. Personally, both in my political life spanning over half a century and in the AK Party's quarter-century journey, I have always strived to walk with the youth and support their cause. Remember, putting youth at the center of politics is a matter of will. We said this and we did what was necessary. What did we do? We lowered the age of candidacy from 30 to 18, paving the way for youth in politics. From the private sector to education and sports, from public administration to culture, art, and civil society, we provided all kinds of support to the youth. How can we win over one more young person? How can we include one more young person in this nation's independence march? We were by your side at every opportunity, saying these things. We always kept this in a corner of our minds. In the past, they separated the children of this nation from each other by calling them rightist-leftist, progressive-reactionary, Alevi-Sunni. They recognized no limits in wasting the generations that would lift Turkey up. Look, dear young people, yesterday was the 46th anniversary of the September 12 coup. In those dark days, young people were tortured. There were also young people from Samsun among those who were tortured. They were executed on the gallows. The lives of hundreds of thousands of young people were turned into dungeons, and their futures were taken from them. Mothers and fathers sacrificed their 'hennaed lambs,' whom they had raised like the apple of their eye and cherished for years, to the tutelary powers. Our entire goal is to ensure that these bad days are never experienced again. That is why we frequently come together with our youth and consult with them. We update ourselves in line with your ideas, demands, and needs. Those who see youth as a reservoir of votes to be exploited, those who use youth as an apparatus for their personal ambitions, are uncomfortable with this. Let them be. We have never paid them any mind, and we will not do so from now on. We will continue to embrace the youth and walk with them. I pray that God may clear our path," he said.
"The goal with a Terror-Free Turkey is to bring a peaceful atmosphere to the entire region"
Following his speech, President Erdoğan answered questions from the youth. Responding to a question about the impact of the "Terror-Free Turkey" process, Erdoğan said, "We had very major problems regarding terrorism in the Southeast and Eastern Anatolia regions. But thank God, there is no such thing as terrorism left in Southeast Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia right now. The pastures and grazing lands are quite active and lively. My brothers and sisters in the Southeast and Eastern Anatolia can now easily go up to these pastures. They can easily graze their small and large cattle in all those pastures. And they are at peace while grazing them. This, of course, relieves us greatly. I pass through there to the region. Thank God, there are practically no problems in the region anymore. And now the goal is to bring a peaceful atmosphere to the entire region in the Southeast and the East on a larger scale," he stated.
"There are positive developments in the Mecca Agreement"
Regarding a question about his statement "The world is bigger than 5" and developments in the world, Erdoğan said, "We said 'The world is bigger than 5' and we continue to say it. We didn't stop there. We said one more thing. What was that? A fairer world is possible. Now, a fairer world is possible. How is it possible? We are following what is happening in the Strait of Hormuz right now, aren't we? It's not just what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz; you see there are serious problems in many places in the Gulf. And where are the places that these problems are bottlenecking? The Islamic world. And we, as Turkey, say let us overcome these problems that the Islamic world is experiencing as soon as possible, and to overcome this, Turkey has now put its weight on the region, is putting it, and we will continue to do so. We cannot take this lightly. Because there are many expectations from Turkey. Remember, why did we take the step regarding the defense pact in Riyadh and Mecca? Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey came together and took a step. The step we took is for these three countries to come together, and with this step we have taken, hopefully, let us send a signal to the Islamic world from here. There are positive developments. We will achieve this too," he expressed.
"Let not young people be killed, one from the right, one from the left"
Upon a student's question reminding him of the 80s and the September 12 face of the trend that has become popular recently, Erdoğan said, "By saying 'one from the right, one from the left,' unfortunately, these coup-plotting mentalities consumed the youth of that period in this way. And sadly, many of those young people were killed. We would not want to see or experience these, but unfortunately, we saw and experienced them. Our hope is that such situations do not happen in the future. Let not young people be killed, one from the right, one from the left. Let no opportunity be given for such a thing. Let everyone continue on their path upright, and hopefully, let the youth prepare the Turkey of the future with their works and all the assets they put forth, and let us be proud of them," he explained.
"They were happy with the weapon gift at NATO"
Regarding a question about how world leaders reacted after the weapon gift at NATO, President Erdoğan said, "We came out with the products of the Machinery and Chemical Industry (MKE) and gifted these weapons to all the leaders who came. Why? We are Turkey. We wanted to present our works to them. As the saying goes, 'The donkey dies, its saddle remains; the man dies, his work remains.' And it was good. They were pleased, they were happy. And we, of course, were also happy to have provided this happiness, and thank God, we made the leaders' summit hit the ceiling. It hit the ceiling. Now, of course, we will hopefully hold COP 31 in Antalya. Its preparations and so on are being made, of course. And my wife had meetings with United Nations Secretary-General Guterres here. We carried out this process with their support as well. We operated this process. But thank God, we have also reached a good position. In the coming period, hopefully, our step regarding zero waste has also taken a significant place within the United Nations community. Hopefully, Antalya will be the place where the summit is held for this," he said.
Mentioning that the actors of the 'Asırlık Gece' (Centennial Night) series were also carefully selected, Erdoğan gave the following answer to the question about the series:
"This series is truly a 15-out-of-10 series. And if my young friends watched the whole series, they have already grasped whatever they needed to take from it. A good selection was truly made, down to the actors in the series, and with this selection, it was truly a good preparation until the end, and this preparation was truly successful until the last moment. And we also tried to find the opportunity to catch and watch this success."
Erdoğan accompanied Resul Dündar's song
During the breaks in the program's questions, Erdoğan accompanied the folk song titled 'Gündüz-Gece' (Day-Night) sung by Resul Dündar. Erdoğan's performance received great applause from the youth. When asked about the 25th anniversary of the AK Party and the decisions it did not give up on, Erdoğan said, "Thank God, there is nothing left that we have left behind in the structure in a determined manner. And there is something very, very important, and that is this; we have built a very strong youth. As I stated in my speech, we did not say 30 years old for this youth. We lowered it to 18, and by lowering it to 18, we built and revived a new youth," he said.
President asked for Samsun ice cream, the whole hall ate ice cream
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, intervening after a video played between questions, said, "In the past, we used to go to our hometown of Rize by ship from Istanbul. At that time, of course, the journey was not that short. So, Samsun was our stopover port on important routes. But Samsun also had a taste within that famous route. That was Samsun's ice cream. We would stop here. Then that ice cream would come. Is that ice cream still continuing? We talked now. The Mayor immediately said, 'I'll handle it in half an hour,'" he stated.
"Çorum FK, which won 5-1, was rude to Samsunspor"
Upon a student from Çorum stating his hometown, Erdoğan, joking by saying "You were rude" regarding Çorum FK beating Samsunspor 5-1 away, touched upon both this match and the toy shopping he did with his grandchildren. Erdoğan said, "You were rude last night. What did you do to Samsun? Did they beat Samsun 5-1? Çorum beat Samsun 5-1, right? Where? And in Samsun, at that. The Mayor just told me the situation. My grandchild even told me on the phone last night, 'Grandpa,' he says, 'You were going to buy me a monster toy.' Grandchildren are loved more than they are persuaded. And they are loved so much that, well, ice cream is coming now, it's like honey on a finger. I took him there that day, Asım, which one are you buying? This one. Did you like it? I liked it. And he doesn't like things easily, of course. And him leaving there happily that day, of course, made me happy as a grandfather. But he doesn't forget anything either. Look, even last night he says to me on the phone, 'Grandpa, will you take me?' I will take him again. May God grant you grandchildren as well. Thank God, the grandchildren have reached 10. There are 10 grandchildren, and it's a separate happiness," he said.
"If I saw him from the bus and didn't get off, how would I account for this to God?"
When asked about getting off the bus to ask how a disabled citizen was doing when he saw him, President Erdoğan said, "If I saw him from the bus and didn't get off, how would I account for this to God?" Erdoğan also requested a Fatiha from all those present for the soul of the former Samsun Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Demir, who passed away a short time ago. After the prayer, the brought ice creams were eaten. The program ended after the gift presentation.
News Source: 12punto
