Speaking language of love, meeting in an atmosphere of love!

Will we ever be able to say hello (merhaba) in Turkish to all the children of the world as in the Olympiad song, composed for the fifth Turkish Olympiad, which we quoted above? Why not? This is neither a fantasy nor an impossible dream now. No -- this is a legendary cause realized for the most part in a way that will go beyond our wildest dreams.

Would we feel the same joyful zeal if the language we are talking of were the language of war, diplomacy, economics or industry, as is the case with many languages? I don’t think so. What makes a language valuable is never the language itself. For this reason, it is the hearts -- hearts full of love -- of the nameless heroes who spread this language to the whole world that has made Turkish the language of love and which has made thousands of children from different religions, languages and colors love it and has made hearts enthusiastic when it comes to us.

But for the seedlings of friendship watered by the sacrifice and tears by the thousands of unknown Anatolian heroes who spread to all the corners of the world, having shouldered their bags laden with the words “love,” “loving tolerance,” “brotherhood,” “peace” and “altruism,” who would know the value of our beautiful Turkish? We are now seeing the reality that those fertile seedlings have become mighty trees and that we are witnessing a dream awakening. It’s such a reality that it’s more dream-like than the most incredible pink dream.

Please lend your ears to the voices of the black, white, yellow, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu children who sing our national anthem with their chests swelling with pride, who joke with one another in Turkish, who share their joy and sorrow with our songs and poems by feeling them in their hearts at least much as we do. This voice, which other lands hear from their children through us, is also the reflection of this nation’s coming back to its senses and to its essence by rediscovering itself.

What a nice and reviving reflection this is. The first Turkish Olympics was participated in by 17 countries, the second by 21, the third by 42 and the fourth by 83. It’s the words of love that emanate from the 101 countries that participated in the 5th International Turkish Olympiad and that fill our ears with that lovely echo.

As many as 101 countries; thousands of children, and tens of thousands of families… The common denominator is all the human values that promise a new vision of peace to the world and which finds its representation in Turkish. Love, dialogue, loving tolerance, mutual assistance and solidarity...

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Amerika, Kanada, Meksika, Arjantin, Brezilya, Kolombiya, Şili, Avustralya, Yeni Zelanda, Filipinler, Tayvan, Japonya, Singapur, Srilanka, Çin, Güney Kore, Hindistan, Pakistan, Tayland, Endonezya, Afganistan, Bangladeş, Malezya, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nepal, Almanya, Macaristan, Arnavutluk, Avusturya, Belçika, Bosna Hersek, Bulgaristan, Çek Cumhuriyeti, Finlandiya, Fransa, Danimarka, Hollanda, İngiltere, İspanya, İsveç, İsviçre, İtalya, Hollanda, Norveç, Polonya, Romanya, Slovenya, Sırbistan, Yunanistan, Kosova, Makedonya, Azerbaycan, Gürcistan, Kazakistan, Türkmenistan, Kırgızistan, Moğolistan, Nahçivan, Özbekistan, Tacikistan, Etiyopya, Fas, Gana, Gine, Güney Afrika, Kenya, Kongo, Cezayir, Çad, Kamerun, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzanya, Tunus, Nijerya, Orta Afrika Cumhuriyeti, Uganda, Irak, İran, Lübnan, Mısır, Suriye, Suudi Arabistan, Ürdün, Yemen, Kamboçya, Laos, Vietnam, Rusya Federasyonu, Letonya, Litvanya, Moldova, Ukrayna, Belarus, Madagaskar, Malavi, Mali, Moritanya, Mozambik, Papua Yeni Gine...

Tens of thousands of children from all these different countries, religions, languages and cultures now pronounce the name of their countries just as we Turks do above, in Turkish.

These children and many more of them are now growing up with real Turkish culture, which is full of peace and which is interwoven with real loving tolerance. In the hearts of these children, who are growing up with the consciousness of serving all of humanity -- only love, tolerance and good intentions are settling. And our beautiful Turkish now functions as a translator for these enthusiastic hearts beating with love.

Turkish, which acts as an instrument in the building of bridges of dialogue by overcoming the lack of communication among cultures and in revealing the cultural values under the common roof of humanity, well deserves the title of “the language of love.”