Celebrating the Armed Forces Day.. Ambassador Shen: Turkey is 2nd  largest army in NATO and has achieved a huge leap in defense industries.. “Hergit” participates in Egypt Air Show.. The Egyptian army has made heroic sacrifices and supports the Palestinian cause.. Turkey looks forward to President Sisi’s visit

Ashraf AboArafe

Celebrating the Armed Forces Day.. Ambassador Shen: Turkey is 2nd  largest army in NATO and has achieved a huge leap in defense industries.. “Hergit” participates in Egypt Air Show.. The Egyptian army has made heroic sacrifices and supports the Palestinian cause.. Turkey looks forward to President Sisi’s visit

The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Cairo, Salih Mutlu Shen, held a reception in the garden of the embassy headquarters on the occasion of Victory Day, August 30, which is celebrated as “Armed Forces Day in Turkey”.

The ceremony was attended by a group of ambassadors and military attachés from NATO member states, Egyptian and Turkish guests, in addition to military attachés from some other countries. A band of Egyptian musicians played the Turkish and Egyptian national anthems at the reception. The band also played pieces of Turkish military music.

In his speech at the reception, Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen stated that the Turkish nation has great military traditions and has always been known as a military nation in history. In this regard, he said that Army Day, celebrated on August 30 (Victory Day), has a special significance for Turkey.

Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen said that the foundations of the historical relations between Turkey and Egypt were laid by Turkish soldiers, especially the Turkish Tolun Oğlu Ahmet, who came to Egypt since 868. He also mentioned that the Mamluks were a system of government formed by Turkish soldiers coming from Central Asia.

Ambassador Şen added that the Turkish army today, drawing strength from its historical traditions, is a developed and effective army, and it is the guarantor of peace, security and stability in its region and the world.

Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen also pointed out that Turkey is an active member of NATO, explaining that the Turkish army is the second largest army in NATO.

Referring to the great efforts made in the field of defense industries in Turkey during the past twenty-two years under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ambassador Şen said that the roots of these efforts lie primarily in the traditions of the Turkish army, technological progress and the experience that the Turkish army has benefited from since the conquest of Istanbul.

Ambassador Shen said that the capabilities and potentials developed by the Turkish defense industries give confidence to allies and friends, adding that the Turkish defense industries have begun manufacturing aircraft carriers to reach open seas and oceans for the use of all humanity.

Ambassador Salih Mutlu Shen pointed out that there is a great similarity between the Egyptian and Turkish armies resulting from this historical unity, and said that the Egyptian army is one of the strongest armies in its region and that its effective and leading position in the Arab and Islamic region and the world is well known.

He said in this context that the Egyptian army made heroic sacrifices and showed its courage to protect Egyptian lands as well as for the Palestinian cause.

As an example of the historical and traditional unity between the Turkish and Egyptian armies, he said that to this day the military terms and ranks used in the Turkish army are still in circulation and known. He mentioned, for example, military orders such as “Get ready, turn right, turn left, forward” and orders and ranks such as “Bekbakshi”, “Yuzbashi” and Major Still in circulation.

In his speech, Ambassador Şen touched on the developments of the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, saying: “A ceasefire, ending the ongoing conflicts in Gaza, and alleviating the suffering of our victimized and oppressed Palestinian brothers is the common desire of Turkey and all humanity.”

He continued, “We appreciate Egypt’s pioneering efforts to achieve a ceasefire and provide humanitarian aid until today. We had hoped very much that the recent ceasefire talks held in Cairo would yield positive results, but unfortunately this did not happen. The main responsibility in this regard lies with Israel. We know that Egypt will continue to strive with Qatar and the United States to end the war and conflicts as soon as possible, and we want Gaza’s suffering to end as soon as possible. Turkey is ready to do all its duties to heal Gaza’s wounds and rebuild it. In the coming period, we will work in close cooperation and solidarity with Egypt on this issue.”

Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen stated that within the framework of developing bilateral relations between Turkey and Egypt, many friendship visits have been held between Turkey and Egypt recently. He added that recently, after a period of 12 years, the Turkish-made warship TCG Kınalıada made a successful visit to the Alexandria Naval Base.

Ambassador Shen stated that he also held a reception on board the ship during the visit. He pointed out that the naval admiral and the commander of the ship coming from Turkey also paid a courtesy call to the Governor of Alexandria, Lieutenant General Ahmed Khaled, and the Commander of the Egyptian Naval Forces, Lieutenant General Ashraf Atwa.

He said that Turkey was among the top three countries that participated in the International Defense Industries Exhibition (EDEX) with the largest number of companies last year, explaining that many Turkish defense industry products were displayed at this exhibition. He also stressed that the Turkish defense industry companies that participated in the exhibition stated that the International Defense Industries Exhibition (EDEX) was very successful in terms of organization and participation.

Ambassador Shen expressed Turkey’s interest in participating in the EgyptAir Show, which will be held for the first time this year. In this context, he stated that the Turkish-made light attack and training aircraft “Hürjet” and 2 F-16 aircraft will participate in the Egypt Air Show.

Safar Shen pointed out that Turkey appreciates the strength and prestigious position of the Egyptian Armed Forces and the importance of Egypt, adding that by a decision of the President of the Republic, the military attaché at the embassy in Cairo was promoted from colonel to brigadier general, and during the ceremony, attaché Ahmed Tosun was awarded the rank of brigadier general.

Ambassador Salih Mutlu Shen added that the positive developments in bilateral relations will continue in the coming period and that Turkey is looking forward to President Sisi’s visit. He explained that during this visit, many agreements will be signed on various issues, especially economic, commercial and technical, as the visit will also receive great attention in Turkish, Egyptian and international public opinion. The ambassador explained that this visit, scheduled to take place during the coming period, will strengthen and crown the historical brotherly ties between the two countries.