President Erdoğan shared the following message on his social media account:
“I commemorate Mehmet Akif Ersoy, who immortalized the identity and dignity of our nation with an epic poem like the national anthem became the voice of humanity’s conscience with his ‘Safahat,’ on the 88th anniversary of his passing, with mercy and gratitude. The late Akif, whose 63-year life was marked by exile, hardship, and struggle, is a monumental figure who fully deserved the title of National Poet with his way of life, stance, steadfast personality, deep knowledge, and exemplary ethics.”
Erdoğan also emphasized that Akif never stopped living as he believed and writing as he lived, saying:
“Akif, a great master who etched his life into his poetry and his poetry into his life, never allowed any emotion to enter his works that did not belong to him, and never uttered a word that did not pass through his heart’s filter. Mehmet Akif Ersoy was a symbol of truth and courage with his pen. He never hesitated to pay the price for the values he believed in. Along with his feelings, he also became the voice of the dreams of the nation. The late Akif is one of our most important intellectuals who built the spirit and intellectual front of our struggle for existence. On the anniversary of his departure to the eternal realm, I respectfully, mercifully, and gratefully remember our National Poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy, and I greet our citizens with my most heartfelt feelings.”
