Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
To The Turkish Youth
Turkish Youth!
Your first duty is to ever and always protect and defend Turkish Independence and the Turkish Republic. This is the main cause of your existence and of your future. This cause is your most valuable treasure.
In the future, there will be enemies, both in your homeland and abroad, who will try to deprive you of this treasure. If one day you are compelled to defend the independence and the republic, you shall not hesitate to perform your duty whatever possibilities
and circumstances may present themselves. These circumstances may be unfavourable, It may be that the enemies who nurture designs against your independence and your republic may have won a victory the likes of which have never seen in world history. By force or by deceit, all fortresses and shipyards of the sacred fatherland may be seized, all of its armies may have been dissipated and every inch of the country occupied. More tragic and grievous than that, those who is power within the countryman have fallen into error and corruption, they may even be traitors. Moreover, those who are in power may have identified their personal interest with the political aims of the invaders. The nation may have fallen in to complete destitution and distress; the country may be ruined and exhausted.
Turkish Youth of the future! Even under these conditions your duty is to save Turkish Independence and the Turkish Republic! The strength you need is present the noble blood that flows through your veins!