President Erdoğan video calls Turkish commanders abroad in Victory Day reception

Beştepe Presidential Palace witnessed its first traditional Victory Day commemoration reception on Sunday, held by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and hosted over 1,800 guests including the new interim cabinet members.

Turkey witnessed a first in the commemoration ceremony. In the presidential palace, Holy Qur'an was recited for the Turkish soldiers recently slain by the PKK terrorist organization.

President Erdoğan then video called commanders both at home and abroad to congratulate them for their hard work and commemorated their August 30 Victory Day.

"We know that terror aims to deter our nation from its target. The Republic of Turkey has the power to overcome these obstacles. We have not given up a single citizen, neither have we given up an inch of land, and nor will we," said the president.

Erdoğan first called the Turkish representative committee in Bosnia-Herzegovina and then talked with a Turkish sergeant in Afghanistan.

The President video called the TCG-Gemlik frigate, currently on duty on the Indian Ocean, before talking with a soldier-and fellow townsman- in the Akçakale border station in southeastern Şanlıurfa province.

Turkey also witnessed another first in the commemoration ceremony. In the presidential palace, the Holy Qur'an was recited for the Turkish soldiers recently slain by the PKK terrorist organization.

The reception was held for the commemoration of August 30 Victory Day, marking the 93rd anniversary of the decisive 1922 battle between the invading Greek army and Nationalist Turkish forces in the War of Independence.

Due to recent terror attacks and losses of Turkish security forces, no celebrations took place throughout the country, but the president and public officials marked the day with modest ceremonies.

Earlier in the day, Turkey's founding president and War of Independence leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's tomb, Anıtkabir, in Ankara was visited by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Parliament Speaker İsmet Yılmaz, along with the newly appointed members of the interim cabinet and main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for the ceremony.

A military parade was also held in Atatürk Cultural Center, in which Turkey's elite forces displayed their latest technology, including domestic military products.