19.05.2014 Ankara
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his May 19th Youth and Sports Day statement, said, “This year, we greet May 19th together as a nation encompassed in the grief of the disaster in Soma. I believe that the spirit of unity and solidarity, which grows each year with May 19th, will aid in calming our hearts beset by fiery anguish.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We remember the sacrifices of all our martyrs, the
Veteran Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades in arms as well as our brothers
who recently lost their lives in Soma with compassion and gratitude.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu said in his statement:
The historical step taken in Samsun on May 19th, 1919, was
the first step of our glorious nation towards freedom – indispensable under any
circumstance – the first step in our War of Independence.
These are the lands of people who embrace each other; who know that
without one, there can be no other; of people with pure and boisterous hearts.
It is the home of people who embrace each other in difficult times.
We’ve no inkling of doubt that our youth will build a better tomorrow.
On behalf of the Turkish business community, I pray for an end to the
calamitous disasters we’ve endured and celebrate the May 19th Youth
and Sports Day of our nation.”