The Turkish Embassy held a reception on Monday to commemorate the 93rd anniversary of victory in the country’s War of Independence, which conveyed a message of reconciliation and peace.

Known as the Armed Forces Day or Victory Day, Turkish Forces under military commander Mustafa Kemal Pasha, on Aug. 30, 1922, defeated World War I Allies in Afyon in central western Anatolia, laying the new modern state’s foundation.

By November that year, the new regime in Ankara superseded the Ottoman Sultanate, which ruled for 623 years, and formalized through wholesale reforms a transition into a secular republic.

The Treaty of Lausanne in Switzerland on July 24, 1923, officially recognized Turkey’s new sovereignty, and enforced handing over of diasporas in Greece and Turkey. Mustafa Kemal became the nation’s first President with the name “Ataturk” ― father of all Turks ― bestowed by the parliament in 1934.


“The guiding principle of our foreign policy that we still proudly cherish is based on Ataturk’s famous motto, ‘Peace at home, peace in the world,’” Turkish Ambassador Arslan Hakan Okcal said in a speech at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Monday.

“After the war of liberation was won, Ataturk did not hesitate for a second to extend an olive branch to his former foes for peace and reconciliation.”

Ataturk later wiped the tears of mothers whose sons died fighting against Turkey, the ambassador said, in a belief that their sons were no different from Turkey’s fallen sons as they were buried together.

“Nations may fight wars, but once over, peace and reconciliation are needed for a better world and our future generations,” he highlighted. “That there cannot and should not be eternal enmity is the basic lesson Ataturk taught us, ever more valid in our present day.”

Noting that Turkey has been facing grave threats by Islamic State terrorist organization along its southeastern border, Okcal said that his country, as a staunch NATO ally, has joined the America-led coalition campaign.

Regarding Korea’s contribution, the ambassador thanked Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Park Sung-choon, who, as President Park Geun-hye’s representative, attended the 100th year commemoration ceremony of the Gallipoli War in Canakkale in April.

Park described the two nations “blood-sealed allies,” pointing to the 21,000 Turkish soldiers who fought in the Korean War (1950-53) as part of United Nations Forces. The war killed nearly 1,000 of Turkish men and wounded 1,400.

“Korean people will always remember the noble sacrifice by Turkish veterans,” Park underscored.

He added that in a fast-changing global environment, Korea and Turkey are strategic players at Asia’s eastern and western ends. The two countries closely cooperate to realize the freedom, peace and security of the global community as G20 members, Park stressed.


Turkey and Korea are also members of the MIKTA group - an innovative cooperative mechanism of five middle powers of Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Australia - that seeks to address common finance, economics, security and environment issues in an evolving global governance structure.

Park pointed to the ongoing construction of the Eurasia Undersea Tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait, where SK Engineering & Construction is constructing a 5.4 kilometer-long four-lane, two-tier section expected to be completed by March 2017. The tunnel will allow 120,000 cars to travel through daily and boost capital and people exchange between Europe and Asia.

The two countries signed a free trade agreement that came into effect in May 2013 and increased trade volume to $7.3 billion this year.

The Korean government designated July 27, the day the Korean War Armistice Agreement was signed, as the U.N. Forces Participation Day to invite veterans. Turkish embassy’s defense attach Osman Doganbey was promoted to the rank of colonel on Aug. 30.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)