Today is 23 April National Sovereignty and Children’s Day – one of the most exciting and happy days for our nation. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of our Republic, dedicated the very day that the Turkish Grand National Assembly was established to children and this is a significant example of his vision. It is also a very valuable to us, because just as the Assembly laid the foundations of our Republic, children shape the world and steer the future.

To understand what the world will be like in the future, we need to look at today’s children. What they do, what they are interested in, what games mean to them… These indicate how the world will be like tomorrow. And the future comes in a hurry.

Today’s children cannot imagine a world without the concepts, technologies and devices that previous generations could not even dream of. They grow up and develop with technology. Their perspectives, systems of thought, approaches are fed by the infinite opportunities of technology, especially the digital technology. That is why they can cross borders a lot more easily. When the opportunities of digitalization are combined with their powerful imagination, great works and inventions emerge. Writing codes, developing robots, inventing things, creating their own online media are natural parts of their lives.

As adults, our responsibility is to support such conscious and productive children. That is why I am very enthusiastic and proud of our projects aiming to help children confidently prepare for the future. For instance, our employees support the robotics and mechatronics initiatives at Darüşşafaka High School and encourage young students to think more innovatively. We have provided voluntary engineering support to Darüşşafaka Robotics Club, namely Sultans of Turkey, for a robot that won the FRC Robotics Competition in the USA. In addition, our engineers at Siemens Turkey give coding trainings to the female students at Darüşşafaka and support them in their career paths as voluntary mentors.

Encouraging more female students to study engineering is another initiative that we adopt and put great emphasis on. With the Female Engineers Project held in cooperation with our Diversity Council and Turkish Education Foundation (TEV), our female engineers offer mentoring to young female engineering students to support their theoretical knowledge with experience and practice.

We attach great importance to the projects for the children and young individuals, because we know that we need to take responsibility for all children to build a better world. We need to support them and help especially those with fewer means to confidently preparefor the future. I hope such initiatives continue in a larger scale not only at Siemens Turkey, but also in the business world and throughout the country.

Happy 23 April National Sovereignty and Children’s Day to all children!

Within the cover story, Time editor wrote: “He  lifted his  people out of a slough of servile submission to alien authorities, bringing them to the  realization of their inherent qualities, to an independence of thought and action.”

Every time I look at this cover picture, I feel pride on behalf of my country and see the bright light of the future in the eyes of our founder. After 78 years, we still commemorate him with everlasting respect.

92 years have passed since the declaration of the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923. As the first step of the reconstitution process of Turkey, the Republic made its way through many stages, by learning and developing, during these 92 years. It grew while developing, increasing its population from 14 million to 80 million.

As emphasized by Atatürk as “Sovereignty unconditionally belongs to the nation”, the Republic regards every individual who makes up the 80 million as equals and values each individual’s freedom and vital rights above all.

Even though we cannot celebrate the Republic Day with enthusiasm and joy on today’s sad environment, I believe that we should comprehend it better by thinking more about its importance and meaning.

I, once again, would like to underline that it is the greatest responsibility for us to carry our country further by working hard, focusing on production, and protecting the values of our Republic. Happy October 29 Republic Day!

A Chinese proverb states that “Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown.”

Today, our journey forward has its roots in the seeds of freedom planted by a generation that carried out a long and difficult struggle.

Even after 77 years, we remember Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of our freedom and Republic, with everlasting respect, affection and longing.