O, Turkish Youth,
This is the very foundation of your existence and your future. This
foundation is your most precious treasure. In the future, too, there may be
malevolent people at home and abroad, who will wish to deprive you of this
treasure. If some day you are compelled to defend your independence and your
republic, you must not tarry to weigh the possibilities and circumstances of
the situation before taking up your duty. These possibilities and circumstances
may turn out to be extremely unfavorable. The enemies conspiring against your
independence and your republic may have behind them a victory unprecedented in
the annals of the world.
It may be that, by violence and ruse, all the fortresses of your
beloved motherland may be captured, all its shipyards occupied, all its armies
dispersed and every part of the country invaded. And sadder and graver than all
these circumstances, those who hold power within the country may be in error;
misguided, or even may be traitors. They may even identify their personal
interests with the political designs of the invaders. The country may be impoverished,
ruined and exhausted.
O, Youth of Turkey’s future, even in such circumstances, it is
your duty to save the Turkish independence and Republic. You will find the
power you need in the noble blood of your veins.
Mustafa
Kemal Atatürk