Ey Türk Gençliği!
Birinci vazifen, Türk istiklâlini, Türk Cumhuriyetini, ilelebet, muhafaza ve müdafaa etmektir.
Mevcudiyetinin ve istikbalinin yegâne temeli budur. Bu temel, senin, en kıymetli hazinendir. İstikbalde dahi, seni bu hazineden mahrum etmek isteyecek, dahilî ve haricî bedhahların olacaktır. Bir gün, İstiklâl ve Cumhuriyeti müdafaa mecburiyetine düşersen, vazifeye atılmak için, içinde bulunacağın vaziyetin imkân ve şerâitini düşünmeyeceksin! Bu imkân ve şerâit, çok nâmüsait bir mahiyette tezahür edebilir. İstiklâl ve Cumhuriyetine kastedecek düşmanlar, bütün dünyada emsali görülmemiş bir galibiyetin mümessili olabilirler. Cebren ve hile ile aziz vatanın, bütün kaleleri zaptedilmiş, bütün tersanelerine girilmiş, bütün orduları dağıtılmış ve memleketin her köşesi bilfiil işgal edilmiş olabilir. Bütün bu şerâitten daha elîm ve daha vahim olmak üzere, memleketin dahilinde, iktidara sahip olanlar gaflet ve dalâlet ve hattâ hıyanet içinde bulunabilirler. Hattâ bu iktidar sahipleri şahsî menfaatlerini, müstevlilerin siyasi emelleriyle tevhit edebilirler. Millet, fakr ü zaruret içinde harap ve bîtap düşmüş olabilir.
Ey Türk istikbalinin evlâdı! İşte, bu ahval ve şerâit içinde dahi, vazifen; Türk İstiklâl ve Cumhuriyetini kurtarmaktır! Muhtaç olduğun kudret, damarlarındaki asil kanda mevcuttur!
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
20 Ekim 1927
Turkish Youth !
Your primary duty is ever to preserve and defend the National independence, the Turkish Republic.
That is the only basis of your existence and your future. This basis contains your most precious treasure. In the future, too, there will be ill-will, both in the country itself and abroad, which will try to tear this treasure from you.
If one day you are compelled to defend your independence and the Republic, then, in order to fulfil your duty, you will have to look beyond the possibilities and conditions in which you might find yourself. It may be that these conditions and possibilities are altogether unfavourable. It is possible that the enemies who desire to destroy your independence and your Republic represent the strongest force that the earth has ever seen; that they have, through craft and force, taken possession of all the fortresses and arsenals of the Fatherland; that all its armies are scattered and the country actually and completely occupied.
Assuming, in order to look still darker possibilities in the face, that those who hold the power of Government within the country have fallen into error, that they are fools or traitors, yes, even that these leading persons identify their personal interests with the enemy's political goals, it might happen that the nation came into complete privation, into the most extreme distress; that it found itself in a condition of ruin and complete exhaustion.
Even under those circumstances, O Turkish child of future generations! it is your duty to save the independence, the Turkish Republic.
The strength that you will need for this is mighty in the noble blood which flows in your veins.
GAZI MUSTAFA KEMAL
PRESİDENT OF THE TURKISH REPUBLİC
OCTOBER 1927
Turkse jeugd!
Uw eerste taak is voor altijd de Turkse onafhankelijkheid en de Turkse republiek verdedigen.
Dit is het fundament van je bestaan en je toekomst. Deze stichting is uw kostbaarste schat. In de toekomst zullen er kwaadaardige mensen binnen-en het buitenland wensen om je te beroven van deze schat. Als je op een dag bent gedwongen om uw onafhankelijkheid en uw republiek te verdedigen, moet je niet talmen om de mogelijkheden en omstandigheden van de situatie af te wegen alvorens uw plicht. Deze mogelijkheden en omstandigheden kunnen zeer ongunstig zijn. De vijanden hebben een samenzwering tegen uw onafhankelijkheid en uw republiek. Ze kunnen achter hen een overwinning hebben ongekend in de annalen van de wereld. Het kan zijn dat, door geweld en list, alle forten van uw geliefde vaderland kan worden vastgelegd, al zijn scheepswerven bezet, al zijn legers verspreid en voor elk deel van het land binnengevallen. En droeviger en ernstiger zijn dan buiten al deze omstandigheden, degenen die de macht in het land hebben in de fout zittende, misleide en verraders zijn. Bovendien kunnen ze hun persoonlijke belangen identificeren met de politieke ontwerpen van de indringers. Het land kan worden verarmd, geruïneerd en uitgeput.
Jeugd van de toekomst van Turkije,
Zelfs in dergelijke omstandigheden is het uw plicht om de Turkse onafhankelijkheid en republiek redden.
U zult de kracht die je nodig hebt in je edele bloed te vinden.
Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
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