Turkey is celebrating today the 98th anniversary of the “Victory Day” and commemorating the defeat of Greek forces by Turkish forces at the Battle of Dumlupınar in 1922. They laid wreaths at the mausoleum of the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara.
The Turkish president also referred to the escalation of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean region: “Turkey, will not succumb to threats, intimidation and extortion, especially, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and we will continue to defend its rights arising from international law and bilateral agreements,” he said.
In addition, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued earlier a statement on “Victory Day”: “Following the victory on 30 August [1922], we declared once again to the whole world that these lands are our eternal homeland,” he pointed out. “It is no coincidence that those who tried to exclude our country from the Eastern Mediterranean region are the same invaders who tried to invade our country 100 years ago,” he added.