WISHING A BLESSED CENTURY TO YOU, MY DEAR TURKEY!

My mind wanders to the Republic Day celebrations of my childhood.

Streets painted in red and white, celebrations filled with joy in our hearts...

And the inevitable, unchanging phrases that are spoken aloud:

"There are only so many days left until the 100th year."

"Oh, I'll be 31 then, I can't believe it."

"I wonder how it will be?"

A day that's pinned to the future, yet coming from the past.

In my heart, the love for the homeland, the longing from the last few years...

Shaped within the lively gaze of a pair of blue eyes that guide me...

With all the beauty, all the opportunities that the Republic has given me, I am the woman I am today at 31, a time I once couldn't believe would come.

I have a voice, a gift of the Republic!

I vote, just like my grandmothers, who voted before many European countries.

I read, I learn, I grow; in every field my heart desires.

I dress, as I see fit.

I work, man and woman hand in hand, together; just as it should be.

I travel, as much as my curiosity allows.

I marry, I multiply, I become a family.

I take my fair share with equality.

I nourish my soul with art, my life with science, my body with sports; as I wish.

I have a voice, a gift from my Ancestor!

"As for its air, water, stone, and soil, a thousand lives could be sacrificed for my one friend... Every corner of it is my paradise, it crushes and burns within me," as the song says. That's exactly the kind of love.

Because;

My homeland is one of a kind!

No matter where I am in the world, my heart beats with my country.

When I think of it, my soul aches somewhere inside.

The most beautiful country in the world...

I pray for it to reach its full potential, and as I see it hasn't yet, my soul aches even more.

Not just a century, but may thousands of them be ahead of it.

May the eternity of my beautiful Anatolia, my unique culture, and the essence of humanity live on.

May the century be blessed, my dear Turkey!

May the soul of my dear Father, Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and his comrades, who left the Crescent and Star to the century and who shine brightly in our hearts, rest in peace!

Happy birthday to us!

With LOVE,

Selin BİNAY