President Erdoğan: As the Turkish nation, we have a unique acquis in the world

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the Opening Ceremony of Topkapı Palace Darphane-i Amire Museums.

Highlights from President Erdoğan's speech are as follows:

"As the Turkish nation, we have an inheritance that is rare in the world with its history, culture, architecture, depth of art and literature. It is certain that this inheritance did not come into being at that moment or by chance. The emergence of this accumulation, the articulation of the works here, is the result of a lofty ideal that is rooted in both centuries and continents. Each part of this Treasure is a separate wisdom, a high intuition, In the words of the late Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, we cannot achieve our completeness without knowing them.

Look, even the Topkapi Palace we are currently in is a masterpiece in itself and in every aspect. Likewise, the four corners of our heartland, which we are building and reviving step by step, are, so to speak, an open-air museum. I would especially like to emphasize this. These works are of course important and valuable. They are the treasures of our cultural heritage. But the main thing is to preserve this knowledge we have with a high level of consciousness, to enrich it even more, and to fully transfer it to the next generations.

I say these especially for this reason; Yıldız Palace, one of our most distinguished cultural assets, was once operated as a casino and casino in this country. We have witnessed the same disrespect in many places, from our places of worship to different institutions. Our rare handwritten works were sold to foreigners as scrap paper. We have experienced painful days when our historical mosques were used as grain warehouses and, unfortunately, were even turned into barns in some places. As a product of a policy that our late teacher Mehmet Doğan called the betrayal of westernization in order to tear our nation away from its spiritual roots, we have been subjected to a policy of disidentification that seeks westernization only in the wardrobe, seeks it in denying its history and culture, and seeks it in alienation from its national and spiritual values. We know very well that there are those who still long for the old days and come to terms with the history and cultural codes of the nation by making rejection their legacy. We have not given a chance to the representatives of this mentality for 24 years. Hopefully, we will not give another opportunity from now on."

Source: TRT Haber Açık RSS (Gündem) (Open Press / Translated Full Text)