Turkish leaders mark 100 years of Sivas Congress

By Erdogan Cagatay Zontur

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish leaders commemorated on Wednesday the 100th anniversary of the Sivas Congress, a milestone on the Turkish Republic’s road to independence.

“The torch lit in Sivas with the love for independence and a homeland 100 years ago illuminates our way even today in our modern march,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

Erdogan said the decisions taken in the congress showed that “homeland is a whole, it is not fragmented”, adding that these decisions “opened a path to fully independent Turkey and they served important ground for the establishment of the Republic of Turkey”.

Mustafa Sentop, head of the Turkish parliament, said the Sivas congress is a milestone of the national struggle.

“At Sivas Congress, which was convened with the participation of elected representatives 100 years ago, based on the national will, the principles of the national struggle were determined, also stating that the occupation would be opposed, the mandate and the patronage would never be accepted, and the country would be defended against all difficulties and deficiencies,” Sentop said in a statement.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main opposition leader of Republican People’s Party (CHP), said in a written message that he commemorated the heroes of the Turkish War of Independence, especially Veteran Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the 100th anniversary of Sivas Congress upon which the foundation of the modern Republic of Turkey was laid.

* Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur