Honourable Mr. Burhan Kayaturk,
Honourable Mr. Ferhat Erdogan,
Deputy Mayor of Keçiören Beledyesi,
Mr. Cansu Mutlu, President of
AK Party Youth Wing, Keçiören,
Distinguished Guests,
Dear Children!
Thank you all for joining us this afternoon.
I would like to express our special thanks to Mayor
and Deputy Mayor of Keçiören Beledyesi, for their invaluable support in
organizing this ceremony.
Today is the first anniversary of the Peshawar incident
of 16 December 2014, when 144 lives were taken away in a cowardly terrorist
attack on the Army Public School.
132 innocent, unsuspecting, defendless children had
gone to school on that black December day. But, unfortunately, they would not
return alive.
The heartless manner in which these flowers were
plucked away, left every heart in Pakistan and elsewhere bleeding.
The tragedy of this scale was both unprecedented, and
unimaginable.
While we were heart-broken, the nation united in its
resolve to decisively defeat the scourge of terrorism. An intensified Operation
Zarb-e-Azab symbolized this
determination.
In Pakistan, today, there have been commemorative
events – reassuring families of the martyrs that the nation stands with them,
no matter what!
Today, everyone is renewing the pledge that we would
never forget those innocent souls.
Today, everyone is promising them, again, that their
sacrifice will not be in vain.
Here, in Ankara, we are together with our Turkish
brothers and sisters – remembering the Shaheeds and their
families.
Turkey and its leadership were among the first in the
world to reach out and express strong solidarity with the people of
Pakistan. Turkey declared a day of
national mourning.
The unique gesture of AK Party Youth Wing and Keçiören
Beledyesi of planting a tree for each Shaheed, was a source of strength for the
grieving families. Trees – a symbol of life and hope – meant lighting a candle
in the dark.
We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for
your kindness and compassion. This
place, AK Party memorial forest, will keep the memory of APS Shaheeds alive in
Turkey forever.
History bears witness that Pakistan and Turkey have
always stood by each other in difficult times.
I thank Turkish people, Mayor Mustafa AK, and our
colleagues in Keçiören Beledyesi, for keeping this tradition of brotherhood strong.
I have no doubt that, like always, the solidarity between
our two nations will endure – and that we will grieve together in bad times,
but will also rejoice together in good times – Insha Allah!
Thank you.
Yaşasin Pakistan-Turkiye Kardeşliği.
