-Guestof Honour, Deputy Minister of the International Relations and Cooperation HonourablePeya Mushelenga,

-Honourable Members of the Parliament,

-Honourable Laura Mcleod-Katjirua, Governor of Khomas Region

-Excellencies,
Dear Colleagues, members of the Diplomatic Corps ,

-MyDear Fellow citizens,

-Distinguished members of the press

-Distinguished Guests

I am honoured and pleased to have your presence here today on the 92ndanniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic of Turkey, on 29 October, 1923.

We always remember the heros and heroins, brave men and women of Turkey; and their source of inspiration , their mentor, the Great StatesMan Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Father andFounder of our Republic with the greatest respect and deepest gratitude. Thiswas a day in our history of a profound change. Not an independence day but a day of transforming the country fromMonarchy to Republic .

It is the sacrifice and determination of thesevisionary and brave people that made possible for us today to live in anindependent, secular and modern Turkey, thanks to them I can stand in front ofyou as a proud citizen of Turkey where contemporary principles, human rights,democracy, rule of law and social equality and economic development are safeguardedand embraced. It is the determination and commitment of the generations to pursue the contemporary principles whichlead Turkey, today, to the rank of the 17th largest economy in the world andthe 7th largest economy in Europe.

Distinguished Guests,

This is our third National Day celebrationin Namibia since the opening of the Embassy in 2012. Turkey’s approach towardAfrica is one of an equal partnership.We will remain committed to support the institutional capacities of the AfricanUnion and other regional organizations in achieving progress on the priorityareas which will consolidate African ownership of African matters.

Turkey’s Africa policy has ushered in a newphase and gained a fresh momentum in2013 which we describe as mutually reinforced political- economic partnership.After hosting the 1^st Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit in 2008 in İstanbul, the 2^nd Turkey-AfricaPartnership Summit in November 2014 was hosted in Malabo.

Turkey assumed the rotating chairmanship of G-20 in 2015. Development isour priority during our chairmanship of G-20 in 2015. We would like to become the voice of the developing world.To that end we emphasize 3 I’s, namely, Inclusion, Implementation andInvestment. Winthin this framework G-20 Conference on Energy Access inSub-Saharan Africa was held on 2^nd October in Istanbul and Namibiawas represented there by the Deputy Minister of Energy Kornelia Shilonga.

With its 13 offices in Africa,the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, TİKA, carries out developmentassistance projects throughout the continent. TİKA’s programs that weredeveloped specifically for Africa such as “The Agricultural Development Programof Africa”, “The African Health Program” and “The Vocational Training Programof Africa”, indicate the importance that we place on the continent. As you know11^th Office of TIKA wasestablished in Windhoek last year covering the South Africa region. TIKAlike in 2014, it continued to deliver number of projects throughout 2015 aswell. There are four new projects on development assistance to be inaugurated next week inWindhoek and in Erongo Region.

Dear Guests,

Turkeyand Namibia have long standing relations of friendship dating back to early1960’s, years of Namibia's quest forfreedom and independence.

Inthis context, Turkey co-sponsored the “UN Security Council Resolution No. 2145”dated 1966 as the only member of the Western Group in the UN. Turkey was also one of the founding members of the “UN Councilfor Namibia”.

We are committed to further enhance the existing friendlyrelations between the two countries, on a unique and special ground, based onthe principles of equality, mutual respect and further co-operation in everyfield possible.

Wehave been working hard to set the legal ground for various areas ofcooperation, including but not limited to, political dialogue, trade andinvestments, aviation, military, education and visa facilitation for diplomatsand Turkish and Namibian citizens. In this regard, Visa abolition agreement for Diplomatic and Official Passports wassigned and entered into force as of January 2015. Memorandum of Understandingon Training of Young Namibian Diplomatsat the Diplomatic of Academy of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs weresigned and 10 Namibian diplomats joined the first training at theDiplomatic Academy of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 2015 .

TradeCooperation Agreement betweenour countries was signed in November 2014 and the FirstTurkey-Namibia Business Forum was successfully held on 8 October 2015 bringing nearly 150 Businesspeople together.

TurkishAirlines and Air Namibia embarked on a solid cooperation through an MoU signedin İstanbul ,n February 2015 during the2^nd Visit of an Air Namibiadelegation to the Turkish Airlines Head Quarters .

Tourismis another promising field between Turkey and Namibia. Last November a group of Turkish tour operators on adventure tourism came to Namibia for a familiarisation trip with the sponsorship ofTurkish Airlines, Air Namibia, Namibia Wildlife Resorts and Association ofTurkish Travel Agencies. It was a successful trip for promoting Namibia to Turkish tourismmarket.

Thecooperation efforts extended to the field of Broadcasting Corporations between Turkey and Namibia. Followed by theCooperation Protocol signed between NBC and Turkish Radio and Television-TRT in April 2015, a Turkish TRT documentary crewis currently in Namibia to shoot theNatural Wonders of Namibia documentary together with the NBC crew by using ahigh tech equipment.

Trade volume between our countries areincreasing gradually. It has been 2,5 times more since opening of our Embassy. It does not reflect thepotential between our countries yet, the progress is visible.

Distinguished Guests,

Now I would like to propose a toast, to thebright future of very friendly relationsbetween our countries, and to the health and well beings of H.E. Recep TayyipErdoğan, President of the Republic of Turkey, and H.E. Hage Godfrei Geingob,President of the Republic of Namibia.

Thank you.