Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Numan Kurtulmuş, attended the ceremony held in Anıtkabir for the first time on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Kurtulmuş wrote in the Anıtkabir Special Book, “Our goal is to strengthen the strong social ground where every child lives in safety, has access to qualified education, can develop himself/herself freely, and walks to the future in the light of science, art and morality.” In his April 23 message, he said, “Dear children, the holiday is yours, the Parliament is yours, the country is yours. But more importantly, our future from today to tomorrow will rise on your shoulders.”

Kurtulmuş accepted the congratulations in the Turkish Grand National Assembly Marble Hall and later attended the commemoration ceremony in the First Parliament. In his speech here, Kurtulmuş said, “We see very clearly how much the idea of ​​sovereignty, the idea of ​​independence and the ideas of freedom are needed in a world where the sovereignty of countries is disregarded in the world, where the powerful impose rules on whomever they want, where no institution of the international system is almost inoperable, and where rules are applied according to power and for the powerful.”

Kurtulmuş received Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin and students and teachers from various schools at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Presidency Council Hall, and then chaired the 23 April special session in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. In his speech here, Kurtulmuş said, “A strong Republic lives with a strong Parliament. A new constitution is a must. The political institution cannot be a place where oppositions become impasse.”

Zübeyde YALÇIN – Önder YILMAZ – Burcu ŞEN – Betül USTA – Resul Ekrem ŞAHAN – Mehmet Fahri ÖZKAN – Ali EKEYILMAZ/ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted children at the Social Complex on the occasion of April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. President Erdoğan took care of the children from all over Türkiye one by one and congratulated them on their holidays. At the reception, children were given bicycles as gifts. In his speech to the children, Erdogan said, “You are our hope. The light and innocence in children’s eyes increases Türkiye’s belief in a bright future. Each of you is our hope with your brightly shining eyes, your faces as clean and innocent as the sky, and your heart full of compassion and mercy. Every time we meet with our children like you, my belief in Türkiye’s bright future grows and grows stronger. Because in the future, you will sit in these seats and I hope you will come to these positions.” “I believe that there will be valuable names among you who will shine like stars in science, art, sports, politics and civil society. Whatever we do today, we do it to make your dreams come true. Whatever we do, we do it so that the light in your eyes never goes out throughout your life, we fight sincerely for this.”

TRUST YOURSELF, BELIEVE IN SUCCESS
President Erdoğan gave advice to the children who visited him: Don’t let any obstacles come between you and your dreams. Believe in yourself, believe that you can succeed. Never give up on working in a disciplined manner. The rest is just a matter of a little patience and time.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the TRT 48th International April 23 Children’s Festival Gala Program held at Beştepe Nation Congress and Culture Center:

I wish the children of the world a life full of peace and happiness. I send my greetings and love from here, especially to Palestinian and Lebanese children who have to carry the burden of war and conflict on their little shoulders. We strive to stop conflicts and wipe away children’s tears. Our only goal is for all the children of the world to live brotherly in peace and security. April 23 Children’s Day is the first holiday dedicated to children in the world. I commemorate Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and all our statesmen and veterans with gratitude. One of the legacies we will leave to you children will undoubtedly be the sovereignty of the national will, that is, the Republic and democracy. We believe that each of you will protect this legacy in the best way possible. It is the most natural right of children to live in a country and world where there is no war, conflict, conflict, poverty and want. We are trying to realize this ideal by defending democracy and freedoms at home and peace and justice abroad. However, despite all our efforts, unfortunately, wars and oppression in our region continue. Innocent children generally pay the price of these wars.

DIGITAL WORLD WARNING

Children, I want you to be very careful about the dangers as you navigate the endless corridors of the digital world, and to never forget that not every information you encounter is true and not every character is reliable. Of course, it is important to have fun in the virtual world. It is your most natural right. But this should not stop you from playing on the street, reading a book, doing sports, or running around outside with your friends to your heart’s content. I trust your conscience, your pure mind.

‘HAPPY PEOPLE DON’T CRY’
Mutlucan Korkmaz, who is known for her video crying on social media saying she wanted to see Erdoğan, and her sister Gülsü Işıl Korkmaz, a kindergarten student, were also Erdoğan’s guests. Erdoğan showed compassion to Mutlucan, who was crying with excitement, saying “Happy people don’t cry.” Mutlucan read the poem “Soldier’s Prayer”, which started with the lines “Minarets are bayonets, domes are helmets”.

THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE MOON STAR COMES FROM YOUR JOY
EMINE ERDOĞAN: Dear children, I congratulate your April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day with my most sincere wishes and embrace each of you with love. Remember that the shine of the crescent and star in the sky comes from your determination, and the abundance in the soil comes from your joy. As long as you dream, Türkiye will grow even more, and as long as you work, the Republic will survive forever. May your path be open and your success always be! I congratulate the 106th anniversary of our Parliament and commemorate Atatürk and our beloved martyrs with mercy.

Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Numan Kurtulmuş, answered the questions of journalists at the ’23 April Reception’ held in the Parliament on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and the 23 April National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. On the question of when the legal regulations will be implemented within the scope of the ‘Terror-free Turkey’ process, Kurtulmuş said, “First of all, a very intense effort and sincere work has been spent to bring this issue to this point. As you know, at the end of 21 long meetings lasting months in this hall, everyone who had an opinion on this issue was listened to, and at the end, with a much more meticulous work, a final report was produced together with the representatives of the parties. In other words, the will that emerged in this report is a will formed by the alliance of all participating parties. That will is especially “The concrete suggestions expressed in chapters 6 and 7 need to be implemented and reflected as soon as possible. Of course, the commission has completed its work. Of course, the report put forward by this commission is a road map. It is important for Türkiye’s well-being and for this work to be completed in a healthy manner, by following this road map and making the necessary legal arrangements as soon as possible.”

“LEGAL REGULATIONS NEED TO BE MADE”

Stating that all parties agreed upon the dissolution of the terrorist organization PKK and its disarmament to be confirmed and reported by the state’s security units, Kurtulmuş said, “There is a situation that has spread over time regarding the organization’s disarmament. It is necessary to correct this as soon as possible and make legal arrangements together with the statements in the commission report, together with the organization’s disarmament. What will come is the emergence of a legal framework that will be addressed by people who say ‘I have given up, I have left organizational activities, I have abandoned armed activities’.” “For this, our current expectation is that all political parties, especially the political parties that have groups in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, will start making their own legal proposals on this issue, and in the end, it is more or less clear what will be done and how it will be done. Therefore, now that the process is over and the commission has completed its duty, we hope that this declaration of political will will be reflected in the next process.”

“IF THE ORGANIZATION HAD COMPLIED WITH THE DISARMAMENT SCHEDULE, THE PROCESS WOULD HAVE ALREADY ENDED”

Regarding the question of the start date of the legal regulation works, Kurtulmuş said, “Starting before the commission was established, the ‘Calendar’ question was constantly asked. Whether the commission should be established or not, when it will be established, how the commission will complete its work, in what way? Here, rather than a calendar, it is hoped that all political parties, which have really concentrated their views on this issue, should reveal their intentions and determination regarding the completion of this issue as soon as possible and share their preparations with the public, or at least start discussing them in the Parliament.” “Therefore, I would not tell you, ‘It will happen today, it will happen today’. But I also underline the word ‘as soon as possible’ because in good works, the most difficult part is left behind. As I said before, this process will accelerate a lot when it is clearly established that the organization has disarmed. If the organization had complied with the disarmament schedule as set out in the beginning, the process would have been over long ago.”

Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi answered the questions of members of the press at the reception held in the Parliament on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Minister Çiftçi responded to the question about whether there will be a new revision in the traffic law: “There is no revision work on the law. It is currently in force. It is only about license plates, we have already issued the regulation regarding APP license plates. Apart from that, our work on sound systems and multimedia continues. We plan to issue the regulation work on it, probably at the end of this month or in the first week of May.”

“THERE IS A STUDY ON THE POLICE PROFESSIONAL LAW”

When asked about the status of the new regulation regarding the Police Profession Law, Çiftçi said, “There is a study on the police profession law or the police organization law that started in the period before me. We are still continuing to work on it. Recently, my friends made a presentation to me. But it is not in its final form yet. It is not in its final form. We need a little more time.”

‘HE COLLECTED THE MONEY AND GAVE IT TO ŞÜKRÜ SÖZEN’

In the statement given by former Manavgat Municipality Building Control Manager Mustafa Yavuz, who was detained last Tuesday and arrested yesterday, “Şükrü Sözen has a weapons factory named E. in the Beyşehir district of Konya province. Şükrü Sözen is the unofficial owner of this place. However, on paper, the owner of this factory appears as Erdem Buzkan. Erdem Buzkan and Şükrü Sözen were on very good terms. He used Erdem as his safe. Erdem repeatedly used it as his safe.” “I saw that he gave money to Şükrü Sözen. Erdem Buzkan would take the lead in the tenders held in the municipality. He would give the money he received from the bidders to Şükrü Sözen. Erdem Buzkan played an active role, especially in the tenders held at the festivals. Erdem Buzkan would collect the money from the stall owners and give it to Şükrü Sözen.”

‘THE INSIDE OF THE BAG WAS USUALLY FULL OF MONEY’

In his statement, SB, the accountant of the ‘Erdem Motors’ company, who was detained by the gendarmerie teams within the scope of the investigation, said, “Şükrü Sözen used to come and go to Erdem Buzkan’s shop regularly. When he came, he would come with a brown briefcase in his hand at least once a month. The inside of this bag was usually full of money and usually this money was foreign currency. I do not know exactly where he got this money and what they did with this money, but after these money came, they would exchange these money at the foreign exchange office named G. I Once, when I brought tea to Erdem and Şükrü at the office, I witnessed them negotiating the exchange rate with this foreign exchange office on the phone.

As far as I know, Erdem Buzkan would make payments to Şükrü Sözen with some of the money that Şükrü Sözen brought. After the local elections in 2019, Erdem Buzkan came to work with a sack full of money and said to us, ‘Count these money.’ As his employees, we counted this money by hand and delivered it to him in the same way. Since there was no money counting machine in our workplace at that time, I, Ü.A., and Y.Ü. and another employee, who I can’t remember right now, counted these money one by one. However, since it’s been a long time, I don’t remember how much money there was in total. “I don’t know where this money came from and for what purpose,” he said. It was learned that SB was released after his statement.