President #Erdogan’s words were unfortunately taken out of context. He was responding to the so-called ‘manifesto’ of the terrorist who killed 50 innocent Muslims in Christchurch, NewZealand. Turks have always been the most welcoming & gracious hosts to their #Anzac visitors.
The terrorist’s manifesto not only targeted Erdogan himself but also the Turkish people and the Turkish state. As he was giving the speech at the Canakkale (Gallipoli) commemoration, he framed his remarks in a historical context of attacks against Turkey, past and present.
Within the context of what I explained below, here is the translation of what @rt_erdogan actually said:
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It is sad to see U.S. Congress members and Administration officials perpetuate one-sided views of Türkiye’s policies. Skewed and deeply flawed descriptions of our government’s policies and approaches have, unfortunately, become a staple of U.S. Congressional hearings.
Let us set the record straight, @SenatorMenendez. Türkiye does not violate other countries’ territorial waters or air space. Some of our neighbors have engaged in this type of behavior and we have always responded appropriately. We will not allow violation of our sovereignty.
Türkiye never engages in violation of other countries’ sovereignty including drilling in their exclusive economic zones, as you claim, @SenatorMenendez. The long running Cyprus issue, the resolution of which has been made nearly impossible by the EU, is the culprit here.
Today, President Erdogan continued to visit the affected region’s cities including Gaziantep, Osmaniye and Kilis. As he underlined, Monday’s earthquakes have been the worst ones in this region in modern history.
The death toll has unfortunately surpassed 17,000 with more than 71,000 injured and 6,444 buildings collapsed. Once again, our government sends our most heartfelt condolences to our citizens. We are fully mobilized and working around the clock to provide aid to the region.
As our President Erdogan indicated, the unprecedented scale of the affected area (500 km2 area with a population of 13,5 million) has made our work much harder but all our state institutions and agencies are mobilized to provide rapid relief.
President Erdogan visited the region affected by the earthquake yesterday. His visit included Kahramanmaraş, Pazarcık, Hatay, İskenderun and Adana. He will continue his visits today to the other regions affected by the earthquake.
During his visit, President Erdoğan expressed his unshaken belief in our people’s resilience in the face of this historic calamity just like they have endured other disasters in the past.
He underlined the need for national unity at a time of an unprecedented crisis like this and emphasized the fact that our government is fully mobilized and working with local municipalities and civil society under the coordination of AFAD.
In response to two massive earthquakes that struck ten cities in the southeast of Türkiye yesterday, we have taken prompt action and launched an intensive search and rescue operation. Our efforts continue in full force.
Our search and rescue teams consisting of 53,000 personnel, more than 1,000 ambulances, 5,000 healthcare professionals, 54 military cargo aircraft, and 10 military ships are working to ease our suffering. Assistance and support from friendly nations also continue to grow.
So far, 70 countries and 14 international organisations have pledged their support. We are grateful for the support of the international community.
Depremden zarar gören ve kurtarılmayı bekleyen vatandaşlarımıza daha hızlı ve etkin bir biçimde ulaşabilmek için her türlü iletişim teknolojisinin doğru kullanımı hayati bir önem taşımaktadır.
Ancak organize bir biçimde yayılan gerçek dışı içerikler veya bot hesaplar aracılığıyla yapılan paylaşımlar, internet ortamındaki dezenformasyonu hızlı bir biçimde artırmaktadır.
Sosyal medya ortamında art niyetli kişiler tarafından yapılan kaynağı teyit edilmemiş ve gerçek dışı paylaşımlar, halkı yanıltıcı bilgiyi alenen yayma 5237 Sayılı Türk Ceza Kanunu uyarınca suç teşkil etmektedir.
Unfortunately, a powerful earthquake has hit our cities in southeastern Türkiye. Our government has immediately started damage assessment and rescue operations. I want to express our most heartfelt concern and sympathy to our nation and our country.
All work is being coordinated through our national disaster and emergency management agency, AFAD. All our ministries and agencies are on high alert. Our President is presiding over all earthquake related activities of our government.
We would urge everyone to heed the advice of appropriate agencies. We call on everyone to avoid disseminating any misinformation. It is very important for accurate information to be circulated and disinformation to be fought against.