Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges 2023 as the centenary of the Republic of Turkiye and congratulates the people of Turkiye on this significant milestone for their nation;

(2) remembers with respect the founder of the Republic and commander of Turkish forces at Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and his unprecedented efforts to heal the wounds of ANZAC mothers, paving the way for our two nations to become friends from foes in less than a decade; and

(3) recognises the sons and daughters of Turkiye who have since made their home in Australia and the contribution they have made to building our nation.

I rise to celebrate the centenary of the Republic of Turkiye. I extend my congratulations to their people and the thriving Australian Turkish community in Australia. I especially extend my regards to the Turkish Embassy and to my good friend, His Excellency Ambassador Gezer.

As the co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Turkiye, I am proud to say that I have been able to deepen my own understanding of the relationship Australia has with Turkiye. As we celebrate this landmark year with our friends from Turkiye, we look to continually building our already strong relationship, a relationship that is built on a shared history and genuine conversations, a relationship built on the aspiration for our families.

As many would know, the friendship between Turkiye and Australia began in the decades following the Gallipoli campaign. Gallipoli, of course, was the foundation for Australia's military legacy and, indeed, the foundation for the future Republic of Turkiye. As many will say, this friendship can be attributed to one man, the commander of the Turkish forces in Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who would later become the first president of the Republic of Turkiye. A fierce builder and advocate for his nation during his 15-year rule, many sweeping changes were introduced: political, legal and socioeconomic. Kemal was an extraordinary leader and peacemaker. In 1993, he said:

I look to the world with an open heart full of pure feelings and friendship.

In 1934, he extended an olive branch to our nation, uttering the famous words:

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace.

These words are a mark of respect, a mutual respect built between two nations. The respect extends to more than just words.

In 2015, I was lucky enough to be involved in the Australian Turkish Friendship Memorial, The Seeds of Friendship, a sculpture representing a pine cone from Turkiye and casuarina from Australia, representing the seeds of friendship sown for our future. We also show our respect to our fellow Turkish brothers and sisters. As a mark of respect, the only country that has been allowed to have a returned services league branch in the RSL in Australia has been Turkiye. This has been through the work of the subbranch president, Ramazan Alintas, a great man and a great friend.

From the sunburnt country to the land of four seasons, we offer our friendship and our sincerest congratulations on the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkiye. We also celebrate this occasion with the Australian Turkish community that has made their home in our beautiful country. We recognise the ongoing contribution they have made to our nation, from the first flight in 1968 made up of 168 Turkish migrants to supply our workforce to the vibrant and growing community we know today.

Growing up in Broadmeadows, in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, I was surrounded by a large and welcoming Turkish community. I was welcome in their homes. I learnt certain parts of the language—some I can't repeat—and had the luxury of growing up and enjoying their food and sport. The Australian Turkish community became my friends, teammates, classmates and neighbours, and these are friendships that have stood the test of time and shaped me into the person I am today, when it comes to my friendship with my Turkish community. I grew up seeing the ongoing commitment the Australian Turkish community made to our multicultural society. Turkish migrants often worked for 10 hours a day before completing English at nighttime at school. They did that to provide better opportunities for their families and to connect to the Australian community.

To our Australian Turkish community, I extend my sincere congratulations and best wishes on this momentous achievement. The relationship between Turkiye and Australia is now on strong foundations, with continued partnerships that have made both countries more prosperous and more secure. One part of the relationship I want to highlight is the incredibly important way in which we support each other during times of devastation. We saw the support provided by Turkiye during the Black Summer of 2019-2020, and Australia committed $11.5 million to Turkiye after the earthquake. Our two countries have built a relationship that will be able to endure the test of time. They are our friends, which is why I rise today to proudly celebrate and acknowledge the centenary of the Republic of Turkiye. Tebrik ederim—congratulations, and thank you very much.

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and commend the member for McEwen for bringing the motion to the chamber. Congratulations to the Republic of Turkiye on the centenary of being a republic. I know that it will be celebrated at the mosques and the schools that are within cooee of my electorate. I know it's very difficult for some to celebrate at the moment, given the backdrop of the tragedies occurring in the Middle East, and I'm sure that the citizens of Turkiye feel this tragedy very deeply.

The Republic of Turkiye was founded on 29 October 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a general-turned-politician who rescued his country from the clutches of European rule after the First World War and restructured the remainder of what was once a transcontinental and multicultural Islamic empire into a lean, new Anatolian republic, intending it to resemble Europe more closely. Turkiye's history is intimately tied to Ataturk, who was described as a secular nationalist leader who prioritised development reforms and separated religion from public life. Ataturk implemented political, social and cultural reforms that changed his country forever, creating new social and political cleavages as Turkish citizens began contesting the meanings of their country's history, their symbols and their identity.

During his 15-year reign as president, Mustafa Ataturk abolished the sultanate. This drove the Ottoman royal family into exile, marking the end of a dynasty that had ruled Anatolia, the Balkans and large parts of the Middle East and North Africa for hundreds of years—quite an achievement. He also replaced the Arabic script with the Latin alphabet and enshrined women's right to vote. Ataturk died on 10 November 1938, leaving a towering legacy as a commander who rescued Anatolia from European occupation after the First World War and fanned a new nation out of the embers of the Ottoman Empire.

Even today, Ataturk is deeply venerated throughout Turkiye. His poster is seen on the walls of schools, offices and homes. I don't think there are a lot of photos of Australian politicians from between the wars on the walls of too many Australian schools. I'm told that every year, on the anniversary of Ataturk's death, in many places traffic comes to a halt as thousands observe a minute of silence. In the eighties and nineties, when those of my generation started to travel the world, they all thought that they'd discovered Turkiye for the first time. It was cheap to travel to. There were beautiful beaches. It wasn't commercialised and it had a taste of the exotic. The people were incredibly friendly, and there was a very strong association with Australia, obviously via Gallipoli.

Pilgrimages to Gallipoli have taken place since the 1920s. However, it was in the 1980s that an increased number of Australian travellers began to gather at Anzac Cove in Turkiye for the official Anzac Day ceremony. Backpackers in their hundreds would camp overnight and wait for the dawn service. This became a rite of passage for many young Australians travelling through Europe—and still is. What drove many of those young Australian travellers was their own personal family stories that connected them to Turkiye, and my generation is possibly the last generation that had a physical connection, through our great-grandfathers or great-uncles, to those that had fought on the beaches and in trenches of Gallipoli.

There were real childhood stories of Gallipoli, fanned by Peter Weir's great Australian film Gallipoli or Alan Seymour's moving play The One Day of the Year.It was a source of pride to have one's own connection to this beautiful country and its generous people who share a very poignant moment of Australian history.

Gallipoli remains an important place in the collective memory of many Australians, including within my own family. My wife's great-uncle, Private George Sedgeley Hodges of the 7th Company, Australian Machine Gun Corps, survived Gallipoli but then, like so many, died on the Western Front in 1917. My wife and I made a pilgrimage to the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium to acknowledge his remains, which, as was the case for so many Australians, were never found. Today over 33,000 Australians visit Turkiye each year.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express a sincere thankyou to the government and people of Turkiye for their ongoing support for those Anzac commemorations at Gallipoli, where I dare say not every Australian is perfectly well behaved. The commemorations proceeded this year despite the impact of February's earthquakes. We should also recognise that Turkiye is currently hosting almost four million refugees fleeing the conflict on its southern borders. Four million refugees—imagine what the Coalition would do if four million refugees turned up in boats! We should also recognise that Australian and Turkiye worked closely together in Afghanistan on the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission to help build security capacity in the country. Australia opened up our Working Holiday Maker visa program to Turkiye some years ago so young people from Turkiye can come live and work in Australia for a period of time and make a contribution, making our relationship even stronger for the next generation. Happy centenary anniversary to the people of Turkiye!

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.