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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in an August 30, 2020 speech in Ankara that was uploaded to his official YouTube channel that Turkey is not a society with an army but a “nation that is an army within itself, […] there is no power that can stand in the way of this country.” He said that Turkey will not hesitate to sacrifice martyrs in the fight against its enemies. Erdoğan asked whether the peoples of Greece, France, and certain countries in North Africa and the Persian Gulf are prepared to make the same sacrifices because of their “greedy and incompetent leaders.” He stated that Turkey has never been a colonizer, rather it is a civilization that conquers the hearts. Erdoğan added that the fact that Turkey is brought to the forefront of negative subjects is a sign of the fascism and animosity of its opponents.
Following are excerpts:
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: "As some historians have said, we are not a society that has an army – we are a nation that is itself an army.
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"When we combine our technological superiority, our fully developed human resources, and our spiritual power… With Allah’s permission, there is no power that can stand in the way of this country.
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"Now, with a more booming voice, with a more sincere faith, and with more trust in ourselves than yesterday, we say to our enemies: “Bring it on.” Everyone who would stand against us on land, at sea, and in the air has seen Turkey’s legitimacy and its determination in protecting its rights, interests, and capabilities based on international law. Be sure that those who have not seen it will face this reality in the field, at the diplomatic table, and in international platforms. We do not run away from a fight. We will not hesitate to sacrifice martyrs and wounded people in this fight. For our independence and our future, we will not hold back from roaring all together as 83 million people, and running over the dams that get in our way, like a flood.
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"The real question is this: Can those who oppose us in the Mediterranean Sea and around it accept the risk of the same sacrifices? Do the people of Greece accept what will happen to them because of their greedy and incompetent leaders? Do the people of France accept the price they will pay because of their greedy and incompetent leaders? Are the brotherly peoples of some North African and countries in the Gulf content with their futures growing darker as a result of their greedy and incompetent leaders? The citizens of countries that are tens of thousands of kilometers away and are eyeing Turkey’s democracy, constitutional state, and regional interests – do they realize that this process will turn around and harm them?
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"We are aware that we are under siege, and if they could, they would not give this nation [so much as] a breath of air, a sip of water, or a bite of bread. Everything we do, we have done despite them, and we will continue to do so.
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"Throughout its history, Turkey has never been an aggressive country. The Turkish nation is one of the rare peoples that does not have the stain of colonialism in its past. Certainly, our civilization is one of conquest, but our understanding of conquest is not based on taking control of underground and aboveground riches along with land. On the contrary, our understanding of conquest is first the conquest of hearts.
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"Throughout the world, and particularly in Europe, we are in a period in which xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Turkishness, and discrimination are on the rise. Despite this, the fact that Turkey is being brought to the forefront of every negative subject is not a vulnerability of our nation. Rather, it is a sign of the fascism and animosity in the back of their minds."
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