This year’s concept of “Turkish Cuisine Week”, celebrated every year between 21-27 May under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s wife Emine Erdoğan, will be “Heritage on a Table”. This year’s selection will consist of dishes that reflect both cultural richness and culinary mastery, such as keskek, baklava, manti and dolma. The events will be held by Turkish embassies and representations both in Türkiye and abroad. In this context, mass meal organizations that encourage coming together at long tables and shared meals that strengthen intercultural gastronomy dialogue by bringing together Turkish chefs and international chefs will be held.

OUR CUISINE IS UNRECOGNIZED
First Lady Erdoğan made the following statements in the introduction of the book ‘Turkish Cuisine with Centuries-Old Recipes’: “Especially during my visits abroad, I realized that Turkish cuisine is not known enough and properly. Kebab and baklava, which have gained global recognition, are known as the essence of our cuisine. However, I believe that the face of our cuisine, which especially challenges the fast-food culture and fully coincides with the rising gastronomy trends in the world, should be known by everyone. For this purpose, I work with researchers.” We prepared this book by giving it away.”

19 May Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day was celebrated with enthusiasm all over the country.

Samsun: It was portrayed as a representation of Atatürk’s landing from Tütün Pier, where he started the War of Independence. The soil and the Turkish flag, specially brought from Thessaloniki, were delivered to Governor Orhan Tavlı by bicycle and motorcycle groups.

Izmir: Folk dances and sports shows from various branches were presented. Ataturk poster and Turkish flag were unfurled, and moon and star balloons were released into the sky.

Istanbul: A wreath was presented to the Taksim Republic Monument. Following the ceremony, the official celebration program was held at Atatürk Cultural Center.

Kayseri: During the celebrations colored by gymnastics, karate and folk dance shows, the Turkish flag brought by 100 mountaineers climbing Mount Erciyes was delivered to Governor Gökmen Çiçek.

Bolu: JAK teams descended from a height of 10 meters into the hall with the Turkish flag and Ataturk poster.

Diyarbakır: The Thrace region folk dance show, taekwondo, wushu, gymnastics and judo, prepared by Dicle University, received applause from the audience.

Ağrı: A cortege march was held with the 150-meter Turkish flag carried by young people.

Denizli: A cortege march was held with a 120-meter Turkish flag.

Sivas: Hamza Yerlikaya Secondary School students presented a Turkish flag themed show accompanied by music and ‘Sacrifice Turkey’ choreography prepared by music teacher Gülçin Negiz.

Konya: Hundreds of people, young, old and children, pedaled together in the bicycle cortege organized by Karatay Red Crescent Branch teams.

Kırıkkale: Folk dance shows, janissary band show, basketball, fencing and taekwondo shows were greatly appreciated.

Antalya: In the celebrations where Atatürk was portrayed, the students’ dance and acrobatic shows were watched with admiration. Governor Hulusi Şahin accompanied the acrobatics show with a basketball ball.

Nevşehir: Relay Race, taekwondo and archery competitions were held.

Yozgat: Zeybek dances, karakucak wrestling, taekwondo, karate, volleyball, basketball and gymnastics performances were held.

Edirne: Governor Sezer played volleyball and basketball with the students and shot arrows.

Trabzon: While student choirs sang songs, folk dance performances and sports events were organized.

Iğdır: A little schoolgirl, who completed her performance, handed over the Turkish flag to Governor M. Fırat Taşolar and hugged it around his neck.

In the video published by Aydın Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu, describing the 107-year spirit of national struggle, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s arrival in Samsun was animated with the support of artificial intelligence.

1923 SQUARE METER FLAG FOR SAPANCA LAKE
May 19 was celebrated by unfurling a 1923 square meter Turkish flag at Sapanca Lake in Sakarya. The Turkish flag, made of special fabric with a dry weight of 500 kilograms, was kept in water for approximately 15 minutes.

MAY 19 COMBINED WITH NOSTALGIA
Organized by the Istanbul Classic Automobile Association, the event combined May 19 enthusiasm with nostalgia. Many citizens, as well as classic vehicle owners, showed great interest in the exhibition, which featured more than 30 classic vehicles, and took many photos in front of the vehicles.

CRUISE DENSE DURING THE FESTIVAL
While there was May 19th celebration in Istanbul, giant cruise ships docking at Galataport and Sarayburnu Port attracted attention. The density of ships resembling floating cities created joy for tourism.

Ali ALTUNTAŞ- Tolga YANIK- Özgür ÖZDEMİR- Erdoğan ÖZTÜRK- Mehmet BONCUK- Sekvan KÜDEN- Murat KARAMAN- Ziya RAMOĞLU- Hüseyin CUMALI- Cansu KILINÇ- Mustafa KAYA- Hakan GÖKKAYA- Cennete ÜSTEMEL- Uğur YİĞİT- Faruk KÜÇÜK- Hasan ÇAKMAK- Bülent MAVZER- Recep ÇİRİK- Ahmet TEMELCİ/ SABAH

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with young people and national athletes on the occasion of 19 May Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day. Answering the questions of National Athletes and young people, Erdoğan said:

YOUTH ARE THE MOST CRITICAL ELEMENT OF THE DEFENSE LINE
You cannot walk towards the future without gaining your independence. The most key element of the defense line is the young people who flourished in these lands watered with the blood of martyrs and veterans. The Turkish nation has once again declared to the whole world that it will break the dirty hands that reach for its future and independence, regardless of who is behind them. This will remains as strong today as it did 107 years ago.
With the terrorism-free Türkiye process, we are trying to save our country from a half-century-old trouble on the one hand, and on the other hand, to strengthen our national unity and solidarity and to deliver you a country where there is prosperity and brotherhood. We will continue to support our youth in every field, as we have for the last 23.5 years, and to make the biggest investment in our youth.
President Erdoğan answered questions in the program held with young people.

YOU KEEP ME YOUNG
Erdoğan asked Meryem Nisa Apaydın from Uşak, “How does it make you feel to meet young people?” He answered the question: “I would like to express how much importance we give to young people, especially in terms of building a nation’s library here and walking towards the future with young people. I think the more I come together with young people, the younger I will stay. You always keep me young.”

YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD GET UP AWAY FROM SQUIRT
Simge Çevik from Manisa said, “We encounter incidents of violence. So, what is the duty of young people?” He answered the question as follows: “My youth should be a youth that is completely free from alcohol and drugs and all this. This youth of ours should destroy bad habits. From now on, Turkish youth should be a youth that grows up away from all the dirt.”

MEETING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE CANNOT BE REPLACED BY ANYTHING
Sude Şengülay, who participated from Adana, said, “What are the gains that young people bring to the state administration? How does it feel to work with young people?” he asked. Erdoğan said, “Being together with young people is incomparable for anything. Look, we recently won championships in taekwondo. So, if we do it, it can happen.”

I PLAY BASKETBALL THREE DAYS A WEEK
He turned to National Wrestler Rıza Kayaalp and said, “Rıza, are you preparing for the Olympics?” Erdoğan asked, “You surpassed Alexander Karelin, didn’t you? Now we need to break this record in the Olympics.” Kayaalp said, “Our goal is to crown them all with the Olympics.” Erdoğan said, “I play basketball 3 days a week. I played basketball in the morning today and scored 68 points. I started playing football at the age of 16. I started basketball here.” he said. A young man named Merve asked, “What do you talk about with your grandchildren in your daily life?” he asked. Erdoğan said, “We talk about what we talk about with young people, just like in the conversation here.”

WE WILL NOT LEAVE OUR YOUTH TO THESE
Erdoğan answered a question about social media: “Social media is truly the biggest problem of our youth. We will not lose our youth to them in social media. We will ensure that our youth moves in the right direction.”

NATIONAL TEAM WILL WIN
Yusuf Borlu from Bilecik said, “What will be our chance for the National Team to participate in the groups after a 24-year break? Who will be the champion?” he asked. President Erdoğan turned to Minister Bak and said, “You tell me, Osman,” and asked Minister Bak to answer. Minister Bak said, “Our children participated in the World Cup after 24 years. You also supported them a lot. You followed every match. We want our national team to be the leader of the group in the World Cup. We have very important football players. We believe that our national team will emerge from the group. I think it can come to the quarter-finals and make a surprise. We will support them wholeheartedly.” Erdoğan said, “Don’t say we can surprise, say we will win. Win, win, win.”

MET WITH CHILDREN
President Erdoğan and his wife Emine Erdoğan attended the Presidential Children’s Orchestra and Choir Concert held at Beştepe Nation Congress and Culture Center. President Erdoğan and his wife listened to the concert and then took a souvenir photo with the children. ANKARA

MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli attended the Turkish Youth Grand Congress organized by the Ülkü Ocakları Education and Culture Foundation. Addressing an enthusiastic crowd, Bahçeli drew attention to the goal of “Terror-free Turkey”.

‘TERRORISM-FREE Türkiye, OUR RED’
Bahçeli touched upon the vision of purifying Türkiye from terrorism and strengthening national brotherhood. Expressing that this goal is a humanitarian and historical necessity beyond a political move, Bahçeli said, “Today, with the burden of the great responsibility we have taken for the goal of a terror-free Turkey on our shoulders, your duty is greater than ever. This burden is not a political goal. It is the red flag of easing the tears of mothers, securing the future of our children, reinforcing the brotherhood in these lands and carrying the thousand-year-old unity of the Turkish nation into eternity.” Stating that the ranks should be kept close against the centers of terrorism and discord, Bahçeli said, “Today is the time for unity, not resentment. Today is the time for dedication, not for resentment. Today is the time for compilation, not disintegration, and recovery, not exhaustion.”

HAPPY START 19 MAY
Stating that May 19 was a blessed beginning that broke the chains of captivity, Bahçeli said, “May 19 is the legacy of our saddened nation. May 19 is the rewriting of the destiny with the Turkish hand, which was intended to be abandoned to captivity. May 19 is the first lights of dawn in this geography, which was intended to be abandoned to darkness.”

The Foreign Affairs Commission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly recently adopted the “Agreement on the Establishment of the Organization of Turkish States (TDT) Civilian Protection Mechanism”. Within the scope of the agreement, which will be on the agenda of the General Assembly in the coming days, Turkish states; It will take action in case of disasters and emergencies such as earthquakes and floods.
Providing information during the negotiations of the agreement, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Musa Kulaklıkaya said, “The idea of ​​establishing a civil protection mechanism within the organization, which will include search and rescue operations and rehabilitation activities, was first brought to the agenda by our President at the 8th TDT summit held in Istanbul on November 12, 2021. In this context, the first draft text of the agreement in question was prepared by our country and submitted to negotiations.”
Kulaklıkaya stated that the main purpose of the mechanism is to ensure joint and coordinated intervention under the umbrella of the organization regarding disasters and emergencies that may occur in member and observer countries of the organization and, if requested, in third countries.

At the defense industry exhibition opened within the scope of the EFES 2026 exercise, Türkiye’s national and local defense weapons were impressive and new technologies were exhibited. Products such as ASELSAN’s latest technology TOYGUN and KARAT, which will be integrated into Türkiye’s unmanned warplane Bayraktar Kızılelma, were also included in the exhibition. Kızılelma will be an effective force multiplier in air defense and attack missions.

BAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES

KARAT Infrared Search and Tracking System is an infrared (heat) search, detection and tracking system for air targets, developed as an integrated platform for Combat Manned-Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Fixed and Rotary Wing Aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV/SIHA). Infrared search and tracking systems are being developed to contribute to the low visibility features of new generation warplanes and increase their detection capabilities.

TOYGUN has a 1280×1024 resolution IR imaging system and laser pointer operating in the MWIR band. The IR imaging system also includes image enhancement methods (corner and corner softening, image sharpening, histogram equalization, black/white balancing, removing/minimizing fog, haze and atmospheric effects, turbulence corrector and target evaluation) to support high resolution.

TOYGUN, which can be used in missions such as air-air combat, air-ground combat, reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting, includes features such as laser distance measurement up to 35 km, Automatic Target Detection, Single/Multiple Target Tracking, 2 Axis Mechanical + 2 Axis Optical Stabilization.

At the same time, the coordinates of the targets tracked with TOYGUN can be determined.

LOCAL PRODUCTS WILL PLAY A SHOW

Some of the products to be used in the exercise were also exhibited at the defense industry exhibition opened within the scope of EFES. STM’s national strike UAV, KARGU, will be on the field with its autonomous herd capabilities.

KARGUs, which attract attention with their artificial intelligence and image processing supported mission capabilities, can carry out coordinated missions within the scope of the swarm concept and organize simultaneous attacks against the target. A flock of 20 KARGU; It will be a first in the world in the field of herd operation with live ammunition, by hitting its targets with full accuracy with real ammunition, autonomously, under the control of a single operator, with completely national algorithms.