President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tapped into history as he envisioned Türkiye’s future in a fervent speech on Thursday, on the anniversary of a landmark battle 951 years ago.
Erdoğan was in Ahlat, where Seljuk Sultan Alparslan camped out with his army before charging against a Byzantine army outnumbering them, to attend an event in this eastern Turkish town to remember the fallen soldiers and celebrate the victory.
“Ahlat and Malazgirt represent all of Türkiye, with its past, presence and future. They are the keys to make Anatolia our eternal homeland,” Erdoğan said, referring to neighboring Malazgirt where the Battle of Manzikert was fought in 1071. The victory cemented the ongoing Turkish rule in the country where small Turkic tribes made inroads before Seljuks expanded their rule and finally, Ottomans entirely conquered it.
“These places are symbols of our rise which instilled trust in our friends and struck fear in our enemies. They are symbols that will remind next generations of values they have and the price (the nation) pays for their homeland,” he said.
The celebrations of the fateful battle between the Seljuks and Byzantine forces began earlier this week and on Friday, Erdoğan is expected to attend further events in Malazgirt.
Events are no longer low-key celebrations in Türkiye, which seeks to embrace its past of victories, from the Seljuk to the Ottoman, with more spectacular celebrations. In the past decade, Malazgirt, now a town in the province of Muş, and Ahlat, a district of Bitlis province, have been at the heart of the events.
Erdoğan said a branch of the Turkish Presidency was being built in Ahlat, “to truly inherit the legacy of our ancestors who made Anatolia home for our nation.” Erdoğan also praised the young crowd attending the events, saying their embrace of Malazgirt and Ahlat “boosted our confidence in the future of a great, strong Türkiye.”
“We are developing a vision where every individual in this country can feel safe about their future,” he said.
Erdoğan also remembered the anniversary of Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria in which the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) helped liberate terror-infested parts of Türkiye’s southern neighbor. “I wish success to our soldiers who are still on duty and I want to tell the world that our struggle will not be over until those places are made secure,” he said, referring to northern Syria where Türkiye is reportedly planning a military operation against YPG/PKK, a terrorist group threatening the country. “We do not heed those wagging fingers at us while they can carry out operations anywhere they want. As we have said before, we can go there, one night, suddenly,” the president said, uttering an oft-repeated motto he has used before past operations.
“We only bow to Allah. We do not know any force that can drive us to misery,” he said.
