President Erdoğan: It was our destiny to open Hagia Sophia.

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the Necip Fazıl Awards program held at the Atatürk Cultural Center in Istanbul.

"IT WAS OUR FATE TO OPEN HAGIA SOPHIA"

In his speech here, Erdoğan said, "Master Necip Fazıl used to say while speaking in Sultanahmet, 'Hagia Sophia will be opened one day.' Thank God, the master was a person with such a broad vision. It was our fate to present it in that way and to open it as well," he said.

"POETS ARE THE ENTHUSIASTIC VOICE OF THE PEOPLE AND TRUTH THAT TRANSCENDS TIME"

Highlights from Erdoğan's statements are as follows: The master did not refrain from defending the truth and reality. I remember Necip Fazıl with mercy. The master used to say, 'Hagia Sophia will be opened one day,' and it was our fate to open it. With his fighting spirit, Master Necip Fazıl was one of the monumental figures of our cause. He guided the masses. The poets, who have not severed their ties with the nation from which they emerged, are the enthusiastic voice of the people and truth that transcends time. They connect and pave the way among people who do not know each other by name, form, or spirit. They nourish the national consciousness with their verses and serve the revival of national identity. The master is exactly such a poet.

"SULTAN OF POETS"

"The torch he lit will continue to guide us. The master has addressed the longings of our nation, which are often belittled and undervalued. He has turned these longings into a banner of words and ideas. He has brought forth the embers in the hearts of our nation with his poems and transformed them into signals of action. The torch he lit will continue to guide us.

"HE WAS A PERSON OF THE BEYOND AND INTUITIONS"

I say may God make our youth, especially, and every individual of our nation steadfast on this path. The most obvious characteristic that sometimes unites us with the society we live in and sometimes differentiates us is our emotional and intellectual world. Those who closely knew the master speak of three important features that set him apart from everyone else. The first is his ability to maintain a vigorous body and mind despite the tumultuous life he lived, the polemics he entered, the political pressures he faced, prison sentences, and diabetes. His unyielding personality, despite everything, has been remembered with admiration and respect. His second characteristic is his unparalleled artistry. Just as he left his mark on every field of literature, he also shaped the agenda of his time with the works he wrote on political historical topics. The master was deemed the sultan of poets. The master was a person of the beyond and intuitions.

CONDOLENCES TO FERDI TAYFUR

I pray for God's mercy upon the late master artist Ferdi Tayfur.