President Erdoğan: We will not surrender this country to street terrorism and degenerates.

25.03.2025 21:01

In an iftar program with young people, President Erdoğan reacted to the provocative events that occurred in the streets following İmamoğlu's arrest. Erdoğan stated, "We will not surrender this country to street terrorism and degenerates. No one can cross the line between seeking rights and insulting."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the Iftar Program with University Students. Erdoğan strongly reacted to the street incidents that erupted after Ekrem İmamoğlu's arrest. President Erdoğan emphasized that they will not surrender the homeland to street terrorism.

ERDOĞAN MET WITH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AT IFTAR

Highlights from Erdoğan's statements are as follows: "In this blessed iftar table, I am very pleased to host you, my young brothers and sisters, in the home of the nation and to come together with you. I sincerely thank you, our valuable students, who share our table with us, and give us strength and inspiration with your enthusiasm, energy, and hope. I wholeheartedly congratulate you on your Ramadan, which begins with mercy, is in the middle with forgiveness, and ends with salvation from the torment of hell."

"WE ARE CONNECTING OUR STUDENTS WITH THE OPPORTUNITIES OF THE AGE"

I pray that Allah accepts our fasts, prayers, and supplications during this sacred month. I congratulate you in advance on your Kadir Night and the Ramadan Feast that we will celebrate on Sunday. I send my greetings, love, and deepest affection to all our young people, the guarantee of our independence and future, and the architects of our tomorrows. I kiss the eyes of every child who beats for this country, ties their hopes to this nation, and firmly holds on to their history, identity, culture, beliefs, and values. We are developing our dormitory, scholarship, and loan services every day. We are connecting our students with the opportunities of the age in every field.

"THIS YOUTH IS NOT A YOUTH WITH A CORRUPT MOUTH AND MORALITY"

This youth is not a youth with a corrupt mouth and morality that sets the streets on fire; it is a youth that is a symbol of decency. We are connecting our students with the opportunities of the age. We will hopefully increase our investments, works, and services for our youth in our science and technology centers, libraries, and sports facilities.

We are now the guests of your time. The future of Turkey is you. You are the hope of this nation. Each of you is the future of not only us but also your families and 81 million people. You will hopefully carry the cause of serving the nation on your shoulders. You will bring Turkey to much better levels. You will hopefully build Turkey, the name of which makes the eyes of the oppressed shine. One of the sole purposes of myself and my friends in this cause is to leave a strong and prosperous Turkey for you young people. Everything we have done in the last 23 years has been done solely for this purpose. We have repelled many attacks for this reason. We have thwarted many plots for this reason. We have broken the shackles that were placed on our country for this reason. We have strengthened our brotherhood for this reason. We have raised the standards of our democracy for this reason. We have brought Turkey to levels that are pointed out in the region and the world for this reason.

"THIS COUNTRY HAS EXPERIENCED GREAT PAINS IN ITS RECENT HISTORY"

We are striving to reach our goal of a Turkey without terrorism for this reason. This country has truly experienced great pains in its recent history. Many of our children were torn from us in the spring of their lives with dirty scenarios. They turned young people who lived in the same apartment, studied at the same university, and grew up in the same neighborhood against each other.

"THEY POINTED TO THE STREET AS AN ADDRESS"

They pointed to the street as an address. They fueled the fight. They escalated the tension and grew the anger. They sowed seeds of discord and hatred among the youth. They darkened the future of our nation. They opened great wounds in the hearts of mothers and fathers that never heal. They did not hesitate to spend the bright young people of this country, its promising youths, like loose change for the sake of adding wealth to their money and political fortunes. We are a big family. Regardless of our political views, sects, or origins, we are all brothers, and we are partners in each other's fate. Even if our names are different, our surname is one, and that is the Republic of Turkey. We have no other place to go but this homeland. We have no option but to be one, to be together, and to be Turkey together.

"WE CANNOT SURRENDER THIS HEAVENLY HOMELAND TO STREET TERRORISM"

We are going through really sensitive days where we need to act with patience, common sense, sound judgment, and cool-headedness. We will not give in to provocations, we will not fall for incitements, and we will never enter dark paths. We will not be deceived by the cheap politics of cowards who hide behind the youth to cover their own filth. We will hold accountable those who cannot look into the faces of hundreds of thousands of young people whose rights they have violated, and we will never be a pawn or an actor in their vile scenarios. We will seek justice for lawlessness within the law. We will neutralize attacks on our democracy while remaining on legitimate ground. We did not find this country on the street. We did not easily establish this country. We cannot surrender this heavenly homeland, where a lion rests on every inch of its soil, to street terrorism.

"BE VERY CAREFUL AGAINST THE CORRUPT AND IMMORAL DEGENERATES"

I ask you to be vigilant. I urge you to be very, very careful against the corrupt and immoral degenerates who want to pull you into their own swamps, their own dark worlds, and their own filth. I expect you to condemn the incompetent who see nothing but their own chairs. As Turkey, we have one of the best-functioning democracies in the world. We are one of the countries where human rights and freedoms are applied in the most comprehensive way and used most effectively. If even one-thousandth of the insults thrown were made in Western countries, look at what would happen to the perpetrators. Those who attack the police and judicial officials in a vile manner would be immediately dealt with and would never see the light of day again.

"WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO AMBUSH THE WILL OF THE NATION"

If someone means that when they say democracy, they are referring to the thieves, fraudsters, gangs, and marginal structures hiding behind the ballot box to shamelessly exploit the public resources of municipalities, they should not be offended; we do not have such an understanding of democracy. If they mean freedom by burning and destroying the courtyards of our historical mosques, the gravestones of our ancestors, and drinking alcohol in our places of worship, we cannot be there under any circumstances. If someone says, "I can attack the police with stones, acid, Molotov cocktails, and axes; no one can interfere with me," we cannot address this within the framework of rights and freedoms. We have not allowed anyone to ambush the will of the nation, and we will not allow it in the future. I invite everyone to know their limits and to refrain from crossing the line between seeking rights and insulting and vandalism.

Our nation knows how to support and elevate those who come to them for political support, just as it knows how to bring down those who have lost their way. Those who terrorize the streets and want to turn this country into a place of fire have no destination. The path they have taken is a dead end. I remind you here again that we will not allow our youth to be used by corrupt and thieving politicians who turn politics into a tool for profit. I congratulate you in advance on your Kadir Night and Ramadan Feast.

I wish you success in your education and professional life from God.