Sayın Bakan, sayın komutanlar,
Hoş geldiniz. We are delighted to welcome you all to celebrate the 240th anniversary of our independence.
Let me first express deep appreciation to our sponsors for their support of this event. Beyond their support this evening, all of them, in their own ways, are deepening the relationship between our two countries and our two peoples.
It has been a difficult, painful year since Holly Hanım and I hosted many of you last year at this event. Both of our societies have suffered pain and loss at the hands of terrorists. We feel the losses here in Turkey deeply, and we again extend our deep condolences to everyone here and across the country who have suffered losses this year. Başınız sağ olsun.
While painful, whether they occurred in Istanbul or Orlando or Midyad or other places around the world, the attacks each country has suffered only serve to increase our determination to defend our democracies. We must ensure that tolerance and peace prevail over violence and hatred. And we must work to promote and protect the fundamental freedoms that form the foundations of our two democratic societies.
In all of these efforts, the United States will continue to support our friends and allies here in Turkey. We look forward to working with all of you in the year ahead to address this fundamental challenge and the many issues we are working on ın the following year.
Tekrar, hoş geldniz ve çok teşekkür ederiz.
