President Erdoğan reacts to Israel: They will be held accountable

Erdoğan made important statements at an Iftar program with students of the Military Academy.

Highlights from the statements of AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan are as follows:

I pray to Almighty Allah that the month of Ramadan brings blessings. Through you, I send my greetings and love to all our soldiers serving selflessly in our country and beyond our borders. I wish each of them great success in their duties. On this occasion, I also wish a happy 110th anniversary of our Çanakkale Naval Victory, one of the milestones of our glorious history.

'I EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE'

I commemorate our martyrs who wrote an epic in Çanakkale with their lives and blood, and with a resistance that is etched in memory. I respectfully commemorate all the commanders of our heroic army, starting with the Hero of Anafartalar, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, from Cevat Pasha to Lieutenant Colonel Selahaddin Adil Pasha. I once again pray for God's mercy upon all the heroes who came from every corner of Anatolia and our heartland to stand against the tyrants of the era. I once again express my gratitude to all our heroes who broke the iron ring that sought to trample our beloved homeland under enemy boots.

I pray that God grants us the ability to properly protect the legacy of our martyrs and veterans, and to continue waving the banner of independence and future with passion, enthusiasm, and pride.

'THIS VICTORY HAS INSTILLED A HOPE OF RESURRECTION IN OUR NATION'

Dear friends, the Çanakkale victory was the harbinger of the resurgence and resurrection of a nation that was exhausted by the Balkan Wars and successive betrayals, and which the occupying powers viewed as the 'sick man.' The fuse of the national struggle, which we crowned with victory by joining hands and hearts—young and old, women and men—was lit with the Çanakkale Victory, and this victory instilled a fresh hope of uprising and resurrection in our nation.

The consciousness of martyrdom, which permeated the cells of our nation, shone once again with all its brilliance during the War of Independence and served as an exemplary struggle for other nations of the world.

'WE ARE TEARING UP INSIDIOUS PLANS'

The dignified and virtuous stance displayed by the Mehmetçik in Korea, Cyprus, and many other places is a unique note that our national identity has left in history. We are all proud to be the descendants of ancestors who were exemplary both in their mercy and in their struggle. I would like to express this here with great pride as well. Just as we defeated the shameless incursions one hundred and ten years ago and ensured the unity of our homeland and the peace and brotherhood of our nation, we are continuing our struggle today with the same determination and resolve. We are tearing up the insidious plans, treacherous ambitions, and scenarios of instability that target our country.

'WE ARE ADVANCING TOWARD OUR GOAL WITH CONFIDENT STEPS'

We are advancing with confident steps toward our goal of a Turkey free of terrorism. I hope we will soon see the results of these efforts, which will ensure that our region achieves the lasting peace it longs for. Our goal is to consign to the dustbin of history the plans that have been staged over the last two centuries, sometimes over ethnic fault lines and sometimes over sectarian ones.

Our concern is peace, brotherhood, affection, and to ensure that the unity of destiny and heart prevails in these lands forever. With God's permission, we will succeed in this goal as well. I want to state this very clearly and plainly here: We will stand against those who want to drown our geography in blood, tears, instability, and oppression with the delusion of the 'Promised Land' until the end.

REACTION TO ISRAEL'S ATTACK ON GAZA

Those who attempt to perform surgery on our geography with invasive ambitions, just as they did a century ago, will find Turkey standing against them. With the brutal attacks it carried out on Gaza last night, the Zionist regime has once again shown that it is a terror state that feeds on the blood, lives, and tears of the innocent. Can you imagine three hundred and thirty thousand innocent people? Unfortunately, this Zionist regime committed genocide at the time of Suhoor.

'THEY WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR EVERY DROP OF BLOOD THEY SHED'

Those responsible for the brutality in which, according to the news I received this evening, over four hundred of our brothers—mostly children and women—were martyred, will be held accountable for every drop of blood they have shed. If the fire that is burning innocent children, babies, and women today continues with this arrogance, this state of insanity, this recklessness, and this insolence, it will surely one day engulf those who hold the match and those who pour gasoline on the fire.

'WE ARE HELD UP AS AN EXAMPLE IN THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY'

As Turkey, we stand with the oppressed people of Gaza and our Palestinian brothers during these holy days. We will continue to increase our diplomatic efforts to stop the massacres, establish calm, and ensure a ceasefire is reached once again.

Our heroic army, the pride of our nation, has become an influential power at the global level with the high deterrence capacity it has achieved. We are held up as an example in the field of defense industry, where we have increased the domestic production rate from twenty percent to over eighty percent with the high-technology move we have made in recent times."

News Source: 12punto