A ceremony was held yesterday to mark the beginning of the project. Speaking to the students who won the ministry’s scholarships, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasized his optimism about the country’s future. “Despite all the pessimists and fear mongers, a bright future awaits Turkey,” he said. The prime minister also highlighted the country’s need to raise a well-equipped generation today for tomorrow.
In his speech, he recalled that the nation’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, had sent students to study abroad in 1920. He said many of the railroads and bridges as well as important structures constructed in the ‘30s were the work of engineers who studied abroad. “Their signature was present in the 10th year of our republic. In its 100th year, the signature of students we are sending abroad now will be evident,” he said.
He also congratulated those who won the scholarship. “If we can’t shape the future today, the future will condemn us tomorrow,” he said. Erdoğan noted that the project planned to send 1,000 to 1,500 students abroad for graduate studies in 2010. He also offered his advice to students who will be travelling abroad, saying: “This journey of yours is a glorious one. You will be an envoy for Turkey in the place you go for your studies. You will study like that. Your duty is to break prejudices against Turkey and praise the global successes made by Turkey in the recent period. Be in solidarity with the members of our [Turkic] lineage; show concern for national issues. Defend our rightful international theses out there. This country has great expectations from you. We believe in you as a nation. Godspeed to you. Go in peace and come back in peace.”
