At celebration of country’s 101th Republic Day in Y’de: Ambassador restates Turkiye’s commitment to boost ties with Cameroon.

Ambassador Volkan took the commitment during a ceremony to commemorate the 101th Turkiye Republic Day in Yaounde. The celebration took place at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel on Sunday, October 27, 2024. 

Celebrated annually on October 29, the ceremony took place to commemorate the independence of Turkiye, since it got its statue and its official name was declared in 1923.

Top-ranking officials, including ministers, parliamentarians, diplomats and civil society leaders attended the event. The occasion also served as a farewell gathering in honour of Ambassador Volkan, who has come to the end of his diplomatic service in Cameroon. He will be leaving the country in January 2025.

Speaking during the event, Ambassador Volkan appreciated the excellent relationship between his country and Cameroon. He said the ties will continue to expand to new areas of mutual interests.

He said: “…the relationship between both countries is years old and we have strengthened relationship from economic, commercial, education, technology and through diplomatic ways”.

He hailed Cameroon’s political exchanges with Turkiye, and other actions taken by the government to boost ties. 

“With this historic culture, our relationship with Cameroon has been successful,” Volkan said, restating that Turkiye remains committed to supporting Cameroon become an emerging economy by 2035, as envisioned by the Head of State, Paul Biya.

Highlighting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s message to the population during the 100th Republic Day celebration last year, Ambassador Volkan said: “Whatever we do, we do it with the intention of glorifying this ideal of a great and strong Turkiye, regardless of external and internal threats”.

Enter Turkiye’s President’s message

In his message to mark the Day, the President of the Republic of Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, congratulated citizens all over the world for their great contributions to the country’s interest.

“I would like to thank all of our friends and guests at home and in different parts of the world, for sharing with us…on this festive day. Today, we feel the happiness and the rightful pride of reaching the 101th anniversary of the new century of our Republic,” the message read in parts.

Acknowledging the efforts of his predecessors, President Erdoğan restated his determination to continue in the light of their footsteps. 

“We are determined to make our independence strong, honourable, prosperous Turkiye everlasting forever, which is a legacy of all our States,” he said. 

“We want to open wide the gates for Turkiye, where we will compete not in hardship but in joy; where we will share our riches not poverty, where we will nourish our hopes not pessimism,” the President of Turkiye further said.

The ceremony saw in attendance among others: the Minister of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo; the Minister of Public Contracts, Ibrahim Talba Malla, a representative of the Minister of External Relations and the Ambassadors of USA, India, South Africa, Germany, Egypt, Japan, China and Equatorial Guinea. The head of the European Union delegation in Cameroon, and the Turkiye Honorary Consul in Cameroon, Senator Nfon Mukete IV Ekoko. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3274 of Tuesday October 29, 2024