President vows stronger Turkey by republic’s centenary

By Zafer Fatih Beyaz, Ferdi Turkten and Yasemin Kalyoncuoglu

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed a stronger Turkey by the republic’s centenary.

Erdogan delivered a speech at a ceremony for the 6th Anadolu Media Awards which took place at the presidential compound in the capital Ankara.

Referring to the importance of the media, he said: “The free, responsible and national press is one of the most important supporters of our nation’s endeavor to reach a bright future.”

Particularly on the local Anatolian press, he remarked: “Our press is fulfilling an invaluable duty in terms of informing our people in a timely and truthful manner and also helping administrators to follow the people’s agenda in a healthy way.”

Underlining that Turkey's power in its region has already been acknowledged, Erdogan noted that they remain adamant about accomplishing the aims set for the centenary of the republic in 2023.

“Today, we are on the verge of 2023, the greatest milestone on the path towards building a great and strong Turkey. The last hope of those who struggle to keep Turkey away from the restructuring of the global system is to revive the old Turkey in 2023. Inshallah, they will fail once again,” he added.

At the ceremony, the “Communication Award of the Year” was presented to the Presidency’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun.

Serdar Karagoz also received the award for “News Agency of the Year” on behalf of Anadolu Agency, of which he is director-general.​​​​​​​