We have 33 martyrs.

May God have mercy on their souls and I wish great patience to their families. My condolences to our nation.

We have been fighting for centuries now in every inch of land in Anatolia, where martyrs continue to fall.

We have martyrs ever since we came to this land, and have been carrying on a great struggle ever since that day. This never ceased.

We built great powers, established great states, shaped the region and history.

Our resistance, struggles, fight and defense have always been great.

We sometimes became friends and sometimes foes with Russia, European countries, and the entire West. At times we established alliances while at other times we carried out great wars.

The early 20th century is a summary of this complete history, while what we are experiencing today is a summation of the last millennium.

We were divided and scattered in the world war. So, we took shelter in Anatolia and have been striving to protect it ever since.

We have been fighting inside Anatolia non-stop ever since that day. We are struggling with uprisings, internal chaos, coups, and terrorist attacks. These are all “interventions.”

This is all related to those who cornered us in Anatolia, the forces we have had to clash with for centuries. Terrorism, coup, internal chaos are all the methods they use to attack us.

We cleared them inside so they built fronts on our border, outside and around us. They carried the intervention to these fields. They besieged us, they closed in on us and tried to drown us.

It is still ongoing.

The fight we are carrying on over Syria is a fight against the multinational front established in our south. Contrary to what is thought, this front is not the Syria front but the Turkey front.

The Syrian war was started to open the Turkey front. It is Turkey’s map that is in question, not Syria’s map.

The showdown is with us.

After the showdown they have been continuing through the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for four decades, a new stage has been reached; proxy wars have been started through Syria and Iraq, with a front built from the Iranian border to the Mediterranean, and this front has been extended from the Mediterranean to the Aegean.

Nobody should dare portray the Syria issue as a foreign issue. Nobody should dare portray the Latakia minority government as a state, as a country. There is no such regime or administration as the Syrian regime.

Russia, Iran and the U.S. are there.

From now on, Syria is not an operation-scale field. It has long been a proxy war anyway.

Turkey must now identify this as a “war.” The public needs to know that this war is going to continue to come knocking on our doors whether we like it or not.

Our troops were killed by forces that are in no way the “Syrian government” and signify nothing other than the Latakia minority administration.

The air raids cannot possibly be independent from Russia. It does not appear possible for them not to be Russian jets. Observations are nothing like the “scandalous” statements made by Moscow.

Just as the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) had downed the Russian jet aimed at triggering a war between Turkey and Russia, Russia, Iran or Assad’s forces are also carrying out sabotages, provocations aimed at starting a sort of Russian-Turkish or Turkish-Iranian war.

Thousands of truckloads of weapons? Euphrates Shield, Afrin martyrs?

What Russia is doing is no different to what the U.S. has been doing for years in the country’s north against Turkey.

The U.S.-NATO axis took action as soon as news of martyrs arrived. It started to control the psychological atmosphere; is started working the “Russia is bad, we are good” theory.

As if they were not the ones that planned the “terror corridor” in northern Syria.

As if they were not the ones that carried thousands of truckloads of weapons, enough to equip an entire army, to the terrorist PKK’s Syrian wing People’s Protection Units (YPG) to fight against Turkey.

As if they were not the ones that managed the PKK and Daesh during the Euphrates Shield and Afrin Operation; as if they were not the ones that exploded and controlled the terrorist bombs in every corner, in every city, mountains and streets of this country for four decades!

As if they are not the ones besieging us in the East Mediterranean today. As if they are not the ones that turned the Aegean islands into missile bases.

Russia and Iran are the ones responsible for martyring 33 of our soldiers.

The U.S. is responsible for the martyrdom of our soldiers in the Euphrates Shield, Afrin Operation and Operation Peace Spring. The U.S. and NATO countries are responsible for the martyrdom of our citizens on July 15, 2016.

We are not doomed to make a deadly preference such as “The U.S. or Russia.” This is all we need to understand.

We all saw NATO’s statements yesterday. Cheap rhetoric! When were they ever next to Turkey until now? Is there any such example?

We are nothing but a security shield for them. Let alone being helpful, were they not the ones that planned all the coups, internal conflicts, terrorism, and July 15?

We are a strong nation. We overcame the toughest times and we will do it again. We overcame the gravest chaos and we will do it again.

We will never step back. We are going to continue out partnerships with both the U.S. and Russia at the “necessary scale.” But we are always going to continue walking on our own path.

This is what the “Turkey axis” requires. This has always been the will that made us a power in this region. We are there and we are on the right path.

The tribulations we are facing cannot be used as matters of internal politics. These are realities much above and beyond our political affilations.

Nobody should get carried away by a “fight for position” in such a situation. Nobody should attempt to profit from this. Social psychology should not be used for revenge purposes.

As it has happened in the past, history will be written by those who fight for Turkey. Not those who pull and tag at Turkey to bring it down.

We saw those who fought and those who betrayed in the past. Whoever is standing where today, that is how they will be identified in the future.

We are going to advance while fighting. Everybody who breaks their mental embargoes, without prejudice, without presumptions can see that Turkey is going to win.

All their regional and global power operations point to this. This is why they are trying to stop Turkey anyway. The U.S. and Russia have both arrived to the same conclusion.

Do not forget, those who say, “Turkey should pull out of Syria,” are trying to move the war, the terrorism back into Anatolia. They are trying to bring terrorism back into our cities.

We will not take this bait ever again!

This is not a Syrian issue but Turkey’s defense!

This is relentless resistance!