A FAREWELL MESSAGE FROM H.E. MR. EGEMEN BAĞIŞ, AMBASSADOR OF TURKIYE
H.E. Mr. Egemen Bağış and his spouse Ms. Beyhan N. Bağış
My term in office as the Turkish Ambassador here in Prague after these active years has come to an end. Naturally, it is a bittersweet feeling. Bitter to leave Prague after five years, but sweet to go back home. I am grateful to the Leaders Magazine and its Editor Mr. Meshulam Zisso – not only for all the support given to my wife Beyhan and myself throughout our tenure in Prague, but also for giving me a chance to share this farewell message with all of you.
Thanks to all your support and friendship, we have achieved a lot in terms of enhancing the bilateral relations between Turkiye and Czechia. As many of you know, the yearly bilateral trade volume between the two countries has increased from $3 billion to $6.5 billion during our tenure here. We relocated the embassy offices to a modern and well-equipped building befitting our glorious flag. Along with Prague 6 municipality, we built a park on Ankarská Street in Prague named Turkish-Czech Cooperation Park, the first park bearing the name of our country in Europe, as a symbol of our hundred-year-strong solidarity. We worked closely with the largest Czech companies, which increased their investment greatly in our country and also helped the defence industry companies in Czechia establish strategic partnerships with their Turkish counterparts.
Paying homage to Czech architect, Ladislav Čapek, we prepared and published a prestigious book with Prof. Jaroslav Sojka about the history of our Embassy Residence building, which will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2025.
Thanks to our dear friend John Mucha, the painting depicting Halide Edip Adıvar (by his grandfather Alfons Mucha) was displayed at the Czech Senate during the Czech Presidency of the EU. As she was one of Europe’s pioneer women’s rights advocates and writers, this exhibition was also one of the highlights of our tenure in Prague.
Today, as the most Eastern part of Europe, and the most Western part of Asia, Türkiye continues on her 101st year to promote sustainable peace, prosperity, stability, and development in its region and beyond. Guided by the enduring objectives of our founder Atatürk to achieve “Peace at Home, Peace in the World”, Turkish diplomacy is doing the utmost to end all conflicts in the world.
Our common values such as democracy, human rights, and a free market economy always play the most important role with our host country and long-time NATO ally Czechia.
As Turkish philosopher and poet Rumi wrote during the 13th century, “Not the ones speaking the same language but the ones sharing the same feelings understand each other. ” We know that our friends here understand us, and we sure have the same feelings for them.
Beyhan and I have had the honour and privilege of representing our country for the last five years here, and we have enjoyed every moment. Modern technology has turned our large planet into a small village so keeping in touch with our friends is easier – and we hope to keep in touch with all of you.
Hoping to see you soon, somewhere in this small village,
Egemen Bağış, PhD, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkiye to the Czech Republic (2019-2024)