By Halima Athumani

ENTEBBE, Uganda

The Turkish envoy in Uganda has urged students to put their country first through patriotism as the most important key in developing the nation.

Addressing students of St Mary’s College Kisubi in Entebbe, Uganda, Ambassador Sedef Yavuzalp pointed out that every Ugandan had to put his or her country above individual interests.

“This is the way Turkey and Turkish people have lived and this is how we have come to the point we are at,” she said.

She added: “We are an industrialized and developed country today mainly because we are hard-working, patriotic and democratic, and we think that our brothers and sisters could use the same methods.”

Yavuzalp is on a campaign to distribute the peace education guideline books to schools with support from the Ugandan Ministry of Education and the Always Be Tolerant Organization (ABETO), an NGO.

So far, the Turkish envoy has distributed about 2,000 books. The peace education training guide addresses topics such as conflict prevention and management, democracy, peace building and human rights.

Noting that the great majority of Uganda’s population is composed of youths, Yavuzalp stressed: “This has a very valuable potential and to ensure the country’s peaceful and prosperous future, we all know that quality education is very important.” 

Contribute to development of Uganda

The book’s foreword details Turkey’s democratic journey under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who is the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.

Under the guidance of his reforms, it is stated, Turkey aimed to rise above the level of contemporary civilizations.

With this background Yavuzalp pointed out that the students have the duty and responsibility to contribute to the development efforts of Uganda.

“You should work hard to continuously uphold the strong values of peace and democracy, which are universal values paving the way for the prosperity and development of any country,” she said.

“I sincerely believe that every nation on this planet deserves democracy and as Turkey we oppose any act which is contrary to democracy. This is our principled stand and should be a principled stand for everyone,” she added.

She described the July 15 coup attempt last year as an attempt at undermining peace and democracy. But, she said, patriotic Turkish people under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan averted the coup.

“This is a great lesson for even the most advanced democracies in the entire world, that nobody can usurp power from a democratically elected government,” she said.

Musana Moses, the head of the ABETO NGO explained that the project had been launched due to the numerous strikes in schools.

With the Ugandan Ministry of Education and the national curriculum board, they drew up a program that would ensure that students maintain peace in schools.

“We chose to work with the Turkish envoy because they share the values of patriotism and peace that we are advocating for.”