President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday called for stronger unity across the Turkic world, saying solidarity, mutual respect and brotherhood would help usher in a new era he described as the "Century of Türkiye."
"I sincerely believe that, as the Turkic world, we will strive to make the coming period the Turkish Century through full solidarity, mutual respect and brotherhood," Erdoğan said at a dinner reception for leaders of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Ankara.
The reception came as Ankara hosted the OTS' 13th summit on Thursday and Friday under the theme Turkic Century: Unity in Language, Thought and Deed. The summit is expected to address regional cooperation, strengthen solidarity among member states and advance the Turkic World Vision 2040.
Established in 2009, the OTS includes Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan as members, while Turkmenistan, Hungary, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the Economic Cooperation Organization hold observer status.
Erdoğan also marked Türkiye’s Republic Day, saying he was excited to celebrate the occasion alongside what he called the organization's "family council."
"The Republic of Türkiye, the common achievement and shared roof of 86 million people, continues to move from success to success with its major gains in every field," he said.
He said Türkiye was determined to overcome those seeking to obstruct its goals, drawing a parallel with the republic's founding 103 years ago.
"Just as the founding will of our republic brought seven powers to their knees 103 years ago and liberated this homeland from occupation, we are equally determined to eliminate those seeking to stand between us and our goals," Erdoğan said.
"As a nation, we once again pledge to work with all our strength to raise the Republic of Türkiye, which we established under extremely difficult conditions and at great cost, above the level of contemporary civilizations," he added.
Erdoğan concluded by wishing a happy Republic Day and expressing hope for lasting "unity and solidarity" among Turkic states.