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"Nations that are not independent in the area of defense cannot look to their future with confidence"

Presidency of The Republic of Turkey

19.01.2024

Speaking at a naval platforms delivery ceremony in Yalova, President Erdoğan said: "Today, nations that are not strong and independent in the area of defense cannot look to their future with confidence."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the "Strength to the Blue Homeland: New Naval Platforms Delivery Ceremony" at Sefine Shipyard in Yalova.

Expressing his wish for the vessels and naval platforms delivered to the Turkish Navy with today's ceremony to be auspicious, President Erdoğan said: "Today, we are not only delivering our ships; we are also delivering the world's first unmanned surface vehicle with electronic warfare capabilities to our navy."

Praising the close cooperation and coordination between Turkish agencies and institutions as the secret to the country's success in defense industry, President Erdoğan noted that such cooperation and coordination between Türkiye's institutions give rise to the emergence of similar game-changing projects.

Drawing attention to the large number of projects implemented with the aim of ensuring the security of the Blue Homeland, President Erdoğan said: "We have achieved an indigenous production rate of up to 80 percent in our projects. We not only build or carry out the rough construction of ships. We are also able to indigenously produce the sensors, useful load, weaponry and ammunition that are needed in all ships."

"WE ENDEAVOR TO END CONFLICTS AND ENSURE A CLIMATE OF PEACE AND TRANQUILITY IN OUR REGION"

Underlining that nations that are not strong and independent in the area of defense cannot look to their future with confidence, President Erdoğan said: "The region our country is located in is the geography where conflicts, political crises and confrontations are the most intense in the world. From the Russia-Ukraine War to the massacres in Gaza, from the atrocities in Syria to the crisis in Libya, every incident that occupies the humanity's agenda is transpiring right next to us."

Noting that Türkiye has made a name for itself as a monument of stability in the midst of all these tensions and crises despite all the obstacles raised in its path for years, President Erdoğan said: "We not only protect our stability and domestic peace. We also endeavor to end conflicts and ensure a climate of peace and tranquility in our region."

"The importance of the Istanbul Process, which we initiated nearly two years ago just a few months into the Russia-Ukraine war, is better understood today," said the President, adding: "If this process, which the war lobbies had mobilized all their means to sabotage, had come to fruition, tens of thousands of people would have survived, this much destruction would not have occurred, and so much blood would not have been shed. We see that those who harshly criticized us back then, including even some circles in our country, are now acknowledging us to be right."

"WE ARE FOLLOWING WITH CONCERN THOSE WHO PROVIDE UNLIMITED AND UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT TO THE ISRAELI ADMINISTRATION"

Warning that a similar regret will be experienced over the tragedy now taking place in Gaza, President Erdoğan stated: "We are all following with concern those who provide unlimited and unconditional support to the Israeli administration by sending aircraft carriers to our region. Those who turn a blind eye to Israel's massacres and atrocities today will definitely experience a massive regret tomorrow. Those who have caused suffering to 100 thousand people in total, including the murdering of nearly 25 thousand innocent Gazans -most of them children and women- will definitely face the scorching consequences of their acts."

Noting that western countries and international security institutions, the most recent bad performance of which has been in the Gaza issue, have no credibility left, President Erdoğan said: "We have seen the true face of those who claim to be a leading defender of democracy. Those who pass judgments on human rights and freedoms have turned a blind eye to children, babies and women brutally killed over the last 105 days. They have not taken even one single step to stop the atrocities. Just like in Iraq, Bosnia, Syria, Yemen, Arakan, Somalia and Afghanistan, the institutions whose duty is to ensure global security have failed and experienced a massive loss of prestige yet again. They were content to simply watch the barbarism of today's Führer Netanyahu and his team, blinded by blood and grudges, against the Palestinian people, which amounts to genocide."