Photography Exhibition and Day Long Conference on “Social, Cultural, Economic and Historical Relations between Bangladesh and Turkey” on the occasion of the Independence of Bangladesh and the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Shiekh Mujibur Rahman was held at Istanbul University.

At the ceremony, Rector of Istanbul University Prof. Dr. Mahmut Ak, Ambassador of Bangladesh Mosud Mannan, Consul General of Bangladesh Dr. Mohammed Monirul Islam, Deputy Minister of Bangladesh Sultana Afroza and several academics were present.

President of the Marmara Group Foundation Dr. Akkan Suver also gave a speech at the conference and talked about Mucibur Rahman.

You can read Dr. Akkan Suver's speech below:

As you know, we have realized the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of the State of Bangladesh and the centennial of its founder this year.

Mujibur Rahman, who we commemorate with great compassion and respect today, and who has stated at every opportunity that he took the inspiration of Bangladesh's independence struggle from Great Atatürk, was 50 years old when he liberated his country from Pakistan and made it independent.

Mujibur Rahman was actually a political prisoner in Pakistan when, as an idealistic people's leader, he brought his country to independence by putting an end to the suffering and massacres inflicted on the Bengalis by the Pakistani State. In absentia, he was elected President by the unanimous vote of the people. Mujibur Rahman, who was sentenced to death by the Pakistani State when he was elected to the presidency, was released with a special court established as a result of the pressure of the free world.

Pakistan committed unimaginable persecution, oppression and massacres that could be considered genocide against the Bengalis living in southern Pakistan before 1971. With a ruthless thought that started in the Ayub Khan period and continued in the Yahya Khan and Bhutto periods, Pakistanis never accepted the right to life and existence of the Bengalis. Pakistan had to take a step back when the world said "stop" to Pakistan, who killed and massacred the Bengalis living in Southern Pakistan at every opportunity, and as a result, Southern Pakistan was left to the Bengalis.

Mujibur Rahman, who was arrested 8 times by Pakistan and stayed in prison for about 3 years, come to the fore as a more recognized and accepted statesman each time he was released.

When he took office in 1971, his first job aim was to rebuild his war-torn country. Later, within ten months, he made Bangladesh a member of the United Nations, drafted a new Constitution and ensured that Bangladesh was recognized by more than a hundred countries. However: Mucibur Rahman's rule was short-lived.

Because he was assassinated by a group that is against freedom and supported by foreign powers, and he was martyred with his family.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, became stronger after this event and continued to follow His path.

The architect of the love for Turkey that exists in Bangladesh today is Mujibur Rahman. He laid the foundations of today's free and independent Bangladesh by taking Kemal Atatürk's struggle against imperialism and Atatürk’s Turkey as his guide.

In the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh, the relations between Turkey and Bangladesh, which are faithful to historical ties and based on cultural and religious closeness, grows and develops in mutual respect, trust, love and solidarity today as well.

To sum up, our relations are at a high level. Official visits of Turkey to Bangladesh, which started with Turgut Özal, continued with Süleyman Demirel, Abdullah Gül and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Bangladesh on the other hand developed the relations started with Ziyaur Rahman in Bangladesh with Sheikh Hasina, Abdul Hamid, Mahmud Ali.

The 258-line poem of Gazi Nazrul Islam, titled Kemal Pasha describes the mutual union between Turkey and Bangladesh very well:

“Brother KemaI, the desperate son of a frenzied mother

Has gone furious: so the devils' dens are full of hue and cry

Looking for self-protection everywhere;

Kemal, what a wonder you've worked!

Ho Ho KemaI, what a wonder you've worked!”