President Ersin Tatar issued a message on the occasion of the 951st Anniversary of the Battle of Malazgirt and the 100th Anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s Great Offensive that liberated Anatolia
President Tatar's message is as follows:
“Today, August 26, is the anniversary of the victory of the Great Seljuk Sultan Alparslan against the Byzantine Emperor Romanos Diogenes in 1071, in the Malazgirt plain.
This victory, which significantly shaped not only Turkish history but also world history, paved the way for the existence of Turkish-Islamic civilisation in Anatolia.
Alongside the Malazgirt Victory, which changed the ethnic, cultural and religious structure of Anatolia and made the region a Turkish homeland, August 26 is also the anniversary of another significantly important part of the Turkish nation.
Centuries after Malazgirt, the Great Leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and his fellow soldiers undertook what is known as the Great Offensive which liberated Anatolia from occupation, on August 26, 1922, and ensured that the War of Independence resulted in a decisive Turkish victory.
We are the descendants of ancestors that made Anatolia a Turkish homeland and entrusted these lands to us for nearly a thousand years. As the representatives of the Turkish world in the eastern Mediterranean, we will always protect our spiritual consciousness and continue to be worthy of our ancestors by preserving our identity, roots, history, State and the moral values entrusted to us, under all circumstances.
The most real heritage we will leave to our children is a life based on freedom, security, dignity and prosperity.
Whilst reiterating the gratitude of our people to the great Turkish nation, of which we are as Turkish Cypriots proud to be an integral part in times of grief, sorrow, and joy, I wish to express my most sincere gratitude to Motherland Türkiye who is always with us. I commemorate all our martyrs and salute our veterans and our heroic people.”
“Today, August 26, is the anniversary of the victory of the Great Seljuk Sultan Alparslan against the Byzantine Emperor Romanos Diogenes in 1071, in the Malazgirt plain.
This victory, which significantly shaped not only Turkish history but also world history, paved the way for the existence of Turkish-Islamic civilisation in Anatolia.
Alongside the Malazgirt Victory, which changed the ethnic, cultural and religious structure of Anatolia and made the region a Turkish homeland, August 26 is also the anniversary of another significantly important part of the Turkish nation.
Centuries after Malazgirt, the Great Leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and his fellow soldiers undertook what is known as the Great Offensive which liberated Anatolia from occupation, on August 26, 1922, and ensured that the War of Independence resulted in a decisive Turkish victory.
We are the descendants of ancestors that made Anatolia a Turkish homeland and entrusted these lands to us for nearly a thousand years. As the representatives of the Turkish world in the eastern Mediterranean, we will always protect our spiritual consciousness and continue to be worthy of our ancestors by preserving our identity, roots, history, State and the moral values entrusted to us, under all circumstances.
The most real heritage we will leave to our children is a life based on freedom, security, dignity and prosperity.
Whilst reiterating the gratitude of our people to the great Turkish nation, of which we are as Turkish Cypriots proud to be an integral part in times of grief, sorrow, and joy, I wish to express my most sincere gratitude to Motherland Türkiye who is always with us. I commemorate all our martyrs and salute our veterans and our heroic people.”