His Excellency Mr. Zhang Jun,Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a distinctpleasure for us to have you here this special evening.

We arecommemorating with great pride and joy the 95th Anniversary of the Proclamationof the Republic of Turkey.

At the onset, Iwould like recognize distinguished guests who have travelled all the way fromTurkey. We are indeed delighted to welcome Mr. Necmeddin Bilal Erdoğan,President of World Ethnosport Confederation and Member of the Board of Trusteesof the Archery Foundation of Turkey, Mr. Ali Haydar Yıldız, Chief Advisor tothe President of the Republic of Turkey and President of the Archery Foundationof Turkey, Mr. Şeref Ateş, President of Yunus Emre Institute, Mr. Uğur Erdener,President of World Archery Federation and Mr. Murat Kolbaşı, President ofTurkey-China Business Council.

Turkey’s ArcheryFoundation which was established in 1453 concluded this morning a verysuccessful archery exhibition, arrow shooting demonstration and a competitionat Beijing Olympic Park in collaboration with Chinese authorities.

DistinguishedGuests,

It was 95 yearsago this day, the form of government of Turkey was officially declared as aRepublic. The motive was to establish a people-centered administration whereevery citizen owned the government and enjoyed the benefits of being a proudcitizen.

The declarationof the Republic also marked a significant point in history as the day of bringingour struggle for liberation to a triumphant end, where national sovereignty prevailed.

I would like to commemorate with respect and gratitude Mustafa KemalAtatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, hiscomrades-in-arms, and all heroes of our war of liberation.

Atatürk was a great leader, a nation builder and a reformer whosefarsighted vision has become a source of inspiration not only for the TurkishNation but also for other nations around the globe. Atatürk’s dream andcommitment to establish a modern, prosperous and a strong country still lightsour way.

Today, Turkeyunder the visionary leadership of President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is resolutelymarching towards the centennial anniversary of the Republic to achieve itsdevelopment goals set for 2023.

Turkey is the 17^th largest economy in the world, 6^thlargest economy in Europe, a G-20 member since its inception, active member ofNATO, Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, dialogue partner of ShanghaiCooperation Organization, pursuing membership of the European Union.

Realization of 2023 goals will not only raise the standards of peace andprosperity at home, but will also reinforce Turkey’s contributions to herneighborhood and indeed the world. Turkey’s enterprising and humanitarianforeign policy acts on that premise and will continue to endeavor to secure ournational interests and contribute to the common goals of humanity.

Turkey spares noeffort to contribute to international cooperation to achieve world peace andprosperity. We have sought humane and peaceful solutions to issues ofinternational concern. The recent one was in İdlib, Syria where Turkey’sresolute diplomatic efforts saved the lives of millions.

To give you anidea, Turkey is hosting 3,5 million refugees, being the largest refugee hostingcountry in the world. Turkey, spent over 30 billion Dollars to mitigate thewounds of these refugees. Turkey’s international humanitarian assistancereached over 6 billion Dollars last year, being the most generous country inthe world according to its Gross National Income.

Turkey’s globalreach will continue standing on the right side of history; helping the poor,weak or the oppressed, whomever or wherever they are.

Excellencies,

Thanks to thejoint visions and the directives of President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan andPresident Mr. Xi Jinping, Turkish-Chinese strategic cooperative relations isstrengthening in all walks of life every single day.

The determination of both leaders to take this relationship to a newlevel has been well displayed in recent years by several high level contacts.

President Mr. Erdoğan and President Mr. Xi met five times in three years, themost recent one on the margins of the BRICS Summit.

This year hasbeen a great success in our bilateral relations. The number of high-levelvisits reached a historic record high. We are also observing 2018 as theTurkish Tourism Year in China.Economicand trade relations steadily grow, while we strengthen our cooperation in thefields of education, science, technological development, infrastructureprojects, agriculture, and other areas.

Turkey and China, once the Western and the Eastern gates of the AncientSilk Road, are also tied again through Belt and Road.

Turkey and China have a strong and unique partnership with a brightfuture.

Taking thisopportunity, I also would like to refer to the Turkish Tourism Year in China,which we observed throughout this year, by organizing many cultural activitiespromoting the tourism beauties of Turkey. Thanks to the efforts of both sides,the number of Chinese tourists who visited Turkey in the first 8 months of theyear increased %88 with compared to the last year.

Please also markyour calendars for the upcoming closing ceremony of the Turkish Tourism Year,which will be held in National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing on 29November 2018 with the participation of Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism.

We hope to see you there.

Thank you allfor your participation.

Happy RepublicDay !