NEW YORK - The 25th annual Turkish Day Parade took place in New York, U.S.A. on Saturday.
Thousands of Turkish-Americans joined in the parade and celebrations.
Turkey was represented by State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin, Turkish-U.S. Parliamentary Friendship Group Chairman and Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy from Istanbul Egemen Bagis, and deputies Zeynep Damla Gurel, Reha Denemec, Sukru Elekdag and Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Among the groups that participated in the New York parade were Turks from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Crimea, Balkans and Meskhetia (Georgia).
Sahin addressed the parade participants that Turkey wants to see Turkish-Americans in U.S. politics. ''We wish to see Turks as congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. We can have a strong lobby if Turkish-Americans participate in national U.S. politics,'' noted Sahin.