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ATATÜRK's ADDRESS TO THE TURKISH YOUTH
Turkish Youth!
Your first
duty is forever to preserve and to defend the turkish Independence and the
Turkish Republic.
This is the very foundation of your existence and your
future. This foundation is your most precious treasure. In the future, too,
there may be malevolent people at home and abroad who will wish to deprive you
of this treasure. If some day you are compelled to defend your independence and
your Republic, you must not tarry to weigh the possibilities and circumstances
of the situation before taking up your duty. These possibilities and
circumstances may turn out to be extremely unfavourable. The enemies conspiring
against your independence and your republic, may have behind them a victory
unprecedented in the annals of the world. It may be that, by violence and ruse,
all the fortresses of your beloved fatherland may be captured, all its shipyards
occupied, all its armies dispersed and every part of the country invaded. And
sadder and graver than all these circumstances, those who hold power within the
country may be in error, misguided and may even be traitors. Furthermore, they
may indentify their personal interests with the political designs of the
invaders. The country may be impoverished, ruined and exhausted.
Youth of
Turkey's future,
Even in such circumstances it is your duty to save the
Turkish Independence and Republic.
The strength you need is already
imbedded in your noble blood.
Gazi Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk
