15.12.2025 08:40
President Erdoğan met with young people as part of the "AK Party Youth Meetings Campus Program." During the program, Erdoğan recalled the moment years ago when he picked up the Turkish flag from the ground and put it in his pocket, saying, "When I picked up the flag and put it in my pocket, Merkel started to laugh. She looked at me in surprise, and I gave thanks. Because this flag cannot stay on the ground. Remember, you will never let our flag be dragged on the ground."
President Erdoğan met with young people at the Haydarpaşa Campus of the Health Sciences University as part of the "AK Party Youth Meetings Campus Program."
"THE MEETING IN 1998 WENT DOWN IN TURKISH POLITICAL HISTORY" Speaking at the program, AK Party Youth Branch President Yusuf İbiş thanked President Erdoğan for being with the youth today, just as he was in the past. İbiş recalled Erdoğan's program in 1998, where he met with young people and answered their questions, stating, "The meeting in 1998 is a meeting that has gone down in Turkish political history, and your subsequent meeting with another group of university students is being renewed here with our friends and you. When we told our friends that we would hold a similar program in the same place, everyone got very excited. Everyone has a snapshot in their mind from that program that has gone down in Turkish political history."
During the program, a short video related to the 1998 meeting mentioned by İbiş was shown. The video featured a student asking Erdoğan in English which language he would speak with the leaders of the countries, to which Erdoğan replied, "I will speak in Turkish," followed by footage of him meeting with the country leaders. İbiş noted that the youth's self-confidence comes from Erdoğan's confidence in saying "I will speak in Turkish," and posed the question to President Erdoğan, "You shaped world politics with your determination in 1998, but we are very curious about what you felt when you expressed that determination and what you felt while realizing these historical breakthroughs afterwards?"
"WE WILL NEVER GIVE IN TO CLOWNISHNESS" Erdoğan stated, "First and foremost, we will believe in ourselves and walk our journey as ourselves. We will never give in to clownishness. We will be ourselves and continue on our path as ourselves. I have grown up with this understanding since my childhood and youth. We have walked into the future by growing with our own oil, without giving in to anyone. Of course, it is very important from whom we received what kind of upbringing. Those who know me from my poems, not the ones I wrote but the ones I read, say, 'Erdoğan always reads Akif...' That's true, I always read Akif, I always read Necip Fazıl. Because I grew up with them, I cannot deny that. Here is a line: 'If I am soft-headed, who said I am a docile sheep? My neck may be cut, but it does not bend to the pull. When I see a bleeding wound, my heart burns. To soothe it, I will take a whip, I will take a double. I cannot say go away, I will take care of it. I trample, I am trampled, I uphold the right.' This is how I was raised."
"HE EMPHASIZED 'I WILL SPEAK IN TURKISH'"h3> President Erdoğan expressed that as a young person raised with this understanding, it is impossible to say otherwise. He also noted that he has always strived to instill this understanding in all young friends, including during his presidency in the youth branches, and that his young friends have also been raised with this understanding, emphasizing that he said "I will speak in Turkish" during the 1998 program with this understanding.
"MERKEL SUDDENLY STARTED TO LAUGH" Erdoğan stated, "We see all the leaders at international meetings. We recognized and knew them all. Now, if you pay attention, I took our flag from the ground and put it in my pocket. Young people, this is national spirit, this is nationalism, this is being local. They have placed the flags of every nation on the ground, but no one cares, but I do. My flag cannot stay on the ground; I have to lift it. When we approached the flags, I saw my flag on the ground. Why is the flag on the ground? Put a number there. But the flag cannot stay there. I took it, and I never forget, Angela Merkel started to laugh when I took the flag from there and put it in my pocket. She looked at me in surprise, and I praised God. Because this flag cannot stay on the ground. Remember, you will never let our flag be dragged on the ground."