-Honourable Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah; Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Namibia,
-Honourable Peya Mushelenga, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Namibia,
-Honourable members of the Parliament,
-Honourable Laura Mcleod-Katjirua, Governor of Khomas Region
-Honourable Agnes Kafula; Major of the City of Windhoek
-Dear Colleagues, Ambassadors, High Commissioners, members of the Diplomatic Corps and the esteemed representatives of Namibian Foreign Ministry,
-Dear citizens of Turkey,
-Distinguished Guests,
-All protocol observed,

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all here in this beautiful Tuesday evening, where we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic, on October 29, 1923.

First of all, I would like to express my deepest respect and gratitude to all the soldiers and commanders of the Turkish army; as well as the mastermind of the great victory and the Founding Father of our Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who fought bravely against the occupying forces during the Turkish War of Liberation, between 1919-1922.

These brave man and woman made possible for us to live in an independent, secular and modern Turkey, where safeguards and embraces contemporary principles such as human rights, democracy, rule of law and social equality and economic development. It is because of this approach, that Turkey, today, is the 16th largest economy in the world and the 6th largest economy in Europe.

Today, also stands for another important occasion for us. It is the first Turkish National Day that we are celebrating in Namibia, since we opened up our Embassy in January 2012.

Distinguished Guests,

Let me briefly touch upon, why did we open an Embassy in Namibia.

Firstly, as part of our "Opening to Africa" Policy, which dates back to 1998, the number of Turkish Embassies throughout Africa increased from 12 in 2005, to 34 in 2013.

Today, as a consequence of this policy, bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Africa has increased from 3 billion USD in 2002, to 19.5 billion USD as of 2012. Today, Turkish Airlines fly to 37 destinations in 27 countries throughout Africa.

With its 13 offices in Africa, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, TİKA, carries out development assistance projects throughout the continent. TİKA’s programs that were developed specifically for Africa such as “The Agricultural Development Program of Africa” and “The African Health Program” and “The Vocational Training Program of Africa”, indicate the importance that we place on the continent.

Although trade is an important aspect in our relations with Africa, it does not reflect the complete picture. The Turkish Government together with the governmental and non-governmental organizations aims at creating and reassuring long-standing, sustainable relations framed on a win-win strategy.

African Union also demonstrated its will to strengthen the relations with Turkey by declaring Turkey as the strategic partner of the Continent in 2008. Following this decision, the first Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit was held in August 2008, in İstanbul.

During her active duty at the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for the term 2009-2010; Turkey was the voice of African concerns, views and positions on many issues, and will continue in the same way if re-elected for the term of 2015-2016.

Our approach to Africa is one of equal partnership, and is best captured in the African proverb which says: “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together”. For Turkey, relations with Africa remain a key priority.

Dear Guests,

Let me also touch upon briefly the Turkish-Namibian bilateral relations. Turkey and Namibia have long standing relations of friendship. Turkey, since the early 1960’s has closely followed Namibia's struggle for freedom and independence, and provided Namibia all kinds of political and financial support within her capacity.

In this context, Turkey joined the “UN Security Council Resolution No. 2145” dated 1966 as the only "Co-Sponsor" from the Western Group. Following this decision, Turkey has been one of the founding members of the “UN Council for Namibia” and as an active member, has made various contributions to the “UN Namibia Fund” and “UN Institute for Namibia” which were established under the same Council.

Turkey is committed to further enhance the existing friendly relations between the two countries, on a unique and special ground, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and further co-operation in every field possible.

In order to crown the friendly relations that exist between the two countries, our Embassy in Windhoek has been launched on January 4th, 2012. Until now, we have been working hard to set the legal ground for many areas of cooperation, including but not limited to, political dialogue, trade and investments, aviation, military, education and visa facilitation for diplomats and Turkish and Namibian citizens.

Bilateral trade volume has been doubled since opening our Embassy, and realised as 10 million USD in 2012. I wish to inform you that, after the finalisation of the related agreements, this figure will increase much higher and we will all witness that the Turkish capital and investments coming to Namibia in the near future.

Distinguished Guests,

Since my tenure in office will end in a few weeks, I would like to take this opportunity to say goodbye. I will always carry the kindness and hospitality of friendly people of Namibia in my heart. I am sure that the valuable assistance provided by the Namibian government to me and my colleagues, will also be provided to my successor, who will carry this flag much further in the future.

Now I would like to propose a toast, to the bright future of friendly and brotherly relations between our countries, and to the health and well beings of H.E. Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey, and H.E. Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of the Republic of Namibia.

Thank you.