LOS ANGELES

October 29, 1998

Fellow patriots,
Dear Friends of Turkey !

As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Turkish Republic on October 29, 1998, I would like to share my views regarding our achievements and the challenges we face as a nation.

As we all know, it is with the Proclamation of the Republic, Turkey has embraced democracy as a form of government. It was the culmination of an almost century old struggle for "liberty, equality and fraternity" as espoused by the French Revolution. The importance of this step can be better appreciated when you consider the fact that there were less than twenty democratically governed states on the face of the earth at the time. It is also important to remember that Turkey had already set up the necessary structures of democracy while fighting the War of National Liberation against imperialism.

Atatürk was the first non-western statesman to see the importance of democracy for peace and prosperity. Under his leadership and guidance the Turkish people took firm steps towards modernization through democracy. This is one of the main reasons of our success. Modernization and sustained economic growth can only be possible in the long-run under a democratic system. The Turkish people continue their efforts to further democracy with a view to expand the scope of rights and liberties.

In the economic field, Turkey has become strong, competitive and market-oriented. It is no longer an agricultural economy. Exports today are mainly industrial products. The services sector has made great strides. Tourism is booming. The Turkish currency is fully convertible and repatriation of foreign investments and profits are guaranteed. Capitalization of the Stock Exchange is a strong %42.6 of GDP and the banking system is well ranked. The government spending ratio to GDP is competitively low. The infrastructure is expanding at a high speed. For the last twelve years the economy has grown on the average %5 annually. Training and education have been able to keep abreast with the population increase. Illiteracy has been reduced to insignificant levels.

Against these developments Turkey is also faced with many challenges. Aggressive policies are needed to carry Turkey into the 21st.Century. Decentralization to simplify administration, privatization to save state economic enterprises and state banks from political pressure and intervention, reduction in the size of bureaucracy to increase efficiency, streamlining government procedures to increase quality of service, tackling inflation to correct widening gaps between regions or income groups, reforming the social security and health care systems to improve quality of life, development of the judicial infrastructure to enhance dispensing of justice, educational reform to bring primary, secondary and higher education in line with national needs and requirements, investing in infrastructure to prevent bottlenecks; can be counted as the most urgent ones. They have already become targets of successive governments but the process has been slow due to the need of foreign funds to build consensus. It has to be noted here that these issues more or less reflect common challenges for all countries in the world in different degrees.

I think we can rightly claim today that the Turkish people have attained the goals they had set for themselves in 1923. They are vigorously pursuing new ones. As we look confidently to the future, we affirm our readiness to cooperate with other nations to enhance peace and prosperity. It is within this context that we see our role in the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean and in Europe. The Republic of Turkey will continue to play an important role for regional security and stability with the experience accumulated in seven centuries as the proud successor of the Ottoman Empire.

With these thoughts in mind, I extend my congratulations and heartfelt wishes for continued success to fellow Turkish patriots and friends of Turkey.

H. Hayret Yalav
Consul General of the Republic of Turkey
Los Angeles