Excellency Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah,

Distinguished Ministers and Deputy Ministers,

Members of Parliament; Fellow Ambassadors,

Dear Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, we have gathered to celebrate the ninety-sixth anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey, and I would like to welcome and thank you all for being here.

The unconditional support of the Afghan people to Turkey’s birth is unforgettable. Afghanistan has a very distinctive, exceptional place in the eyes of the Turkish nation. Indeed, the sacrifice of the Afghans for Turkey’s independence has a deep history of 4000 years, which I had outlined in my speech last year on this occasion. However, I would like to repeat some facts from the modern history of the two countries just to give you a hint of the warm sentiment and brotherhood that we enjoy today.

The Government in Ankara opened its second diplomatic mission abroad here in Kabul in 1920 after Baku. A year later, in 1921, Afghanistan has become the first country to recognize the Ankara Government, and to sign a political agreement, namely the Treaty of Alliance. It was also in 1921 when Afghanistan opened its Embassy in Ankara.

Gazi Amanullah Khan was the only foreign dignitary to congratulate Ataturk for the signature of the Lausanne Peace Treaty in 1923 which formed the basis of Turkey’s foundation. Afghanistan was the second country to recognize Turkey in 1923, after the Soviet Union.

Amanullah Khan’s visit to Turkey in May 1928 was the first state visit by a foreign Head of State to Turkey. During this visit, Turkey signed its first technical assistant agreement with Afghanistan.

The middle section of the Afghan-Iran border was drawn up in 1934-35 by a Turkish committee, upon the referral by the two countries.

When Ataturk passed away in 1938, Afghanistan was the only country that kept its flag half-mast to initiate a week of mourning.

It is with this historical background that the Republic of Turkey has been supporting Afghanistan since the exchange of military delegations which started in early 1920s.

In recent history, Turkey has been assuming, as we all know, the role of framework nation for Kabul under NATO flag since 2002, and has been providing training and education for Afghan national defense and security forces. So far, Turkey has trained 3602 (three thousand six hundred and two) Afghan military and 8252 (eight thousand two hundred and fiftytwo) security personnel, and the numbers are counting.

For the last 18 years, Turkey has also been providing development assistance to Afghanistan, mostly in the fields of education, infrastructure and healthcare. During this period, Turkey has completed more than one thousand projects totaling more than one billion USD. Indeed, Afghanistan is the biggest recipient of Turkey’s development aid for the last 18 years.

In order to reach out to every corner of this brotherly country, our Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency TİKA has been operating through its three offices in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-ı Sharif, which is a unique case since TİKA does not have more than one office in any other single country.

As part of our efforts to reach out to different parts of Afghanistan, preparations to open our second Consulate General in Herat, after Mazar-i Sharif are about to conclude, and we will open our Consulate in Herat before the end of this year inshaallah.

As another demonstration of Turkey’s unwavering commitment to support Afghanistan, we plan to open Afghan-Turk Women University in Kabul. The discussions on the founding agreement of the university which will be named after Mawlana Celaluddin Balkhi Rumi, are in progress.

Furthermore, as part of our efforts in the education sector, the Turkish Maarif Foundation has taken over 12 high schools in Afghanistan this year with the support of the Afghan authorities, and already started to open new schools in Nangarhar, Kandahar and elsewhere.

As for the bilateral trade between Turkey and Afghanistan, our efforts are underway to organize business and contracting fora in December in Turkey with a view to attracting more Turkish investors to Afghanistan.

These unconditional contributions are coming directly from the heart of the Turkish nation, and I am honored and proud to serve this time-tested ties of friendship and brotherhood.

I also consider myself privileged in contributing to take forward this special relationship which takes its strength not only from the two governments, but also from the two respective nations.

Distinguished guests,

Today, Afghanistan continues to face enormous challenges, some of which goes beyond the capacity of any single country.

I will not tell you what you should or should not do in order to address these daunting problems. However, I strongly believe that the strength you need lies in your social and ethnic diversity. As is the case with Turkey, this diversity is your biggest asset in my opinion. Embracing the notions of unity in diversity and political equality is not easy, but achievable, and you can overcome these challenges easier when united in equality.

Elections are bedrock for any democracy. Following the Wolesi Jirga elections in October last year, the presidential election in September this year was another milestone in the rough road to a functioning democracy. I would like to take this opportunity to warmly welcome and commend the commitment of the Afghan nation to democracy. I also congratulate wholeheartedly all those Afghan authorities who made this election possible despite the technical difficulties and prevailing security risks. I sincerely hope that the final results will bring an administration that embraces all segments of the Afghan society, and will provide a new momentum for efforts towards a lasting, just and dignified peace.

It is my strong conviction that, regardless of the outcome of the election, the next Afghan Government will be better positioned to take ownership of the peace efforts if the final results are embraced by all contenders. Afghanistan is under conflict environment for the last four decades, and peace is long overdue.

However, in the search for peace, the ultimate objective should not be any peace, but a sustainable one. In order to achieve this objective, there are two prerequisites in my opinion. The first is, peace should meet the concerns and expectations of all segments of the society including women, youth, media and NGOs, and you can only achieve this by a truly all inclusive negotiating team.

The second prerequisite is, peace should have regional support, and the positive contribution of all relevant regional and international stakeholders should be ensured. The Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process which Turkey will host on December 9^th shall bring its added value to this end.

In the absence of these two factors, you can still rush to peace, but it will not last long in my opinion.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The challenges Afghanistan faces today require statesmanship, rather than mere politics. I hope that political leaders in Afghanistan will come forward, if needed, with the courage to sacrifice their personal ambitions and agendas in order to bring much awaited peace to their country. I can assure you that their Turkish siblings will continue to support them as long as our help is needed.

Thank you!

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