ANKARA - President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Monday that everyone should work in consensus to settle peace in the world and added that settlement of universal peace in the world was the most important requirement of humanity.
Issuing a message upon Feast of Sacrifice, Sezer said, ''I would like to express my best wishes for Turkish citizens on the day of feast. I hope that feast of sacrifice will bring peace and prosperity to Turkey.''
Sezer said, ''we should strengthen our unity and solidarity on days of feast and maintain our belief in our nation, state and the future. We should not forget our duties and responsibilities for our country to overcome its problems and further develop in every field. We should exert our efforts to reach bright days. We should also believe in our power and contribute to development of our country and civilization.''
Stressing that living in a peaceful and happy world could only be ensured in atmosphere of peace, Sezer said that events which happened in the 20th century taught all people the importance of international peace and security.
Sezer stated that preservation of peace should be a sublime goal which could be reached by efforts of people, societies, countries and international organizations.
President Sezer stressed that Turkey should successfully continue the reforms which were started by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Founder of Modern Turkish Republic, in order not to be delayed in progress competition in our era, and to be a happy and strong country looking at the future with confidence. He said overcoming deficiencies in democratization, human rights and legal state should be one of the primary targets.
President Sezer said steps that would be taken in economy field would increase credibility of Turkey in international arena, stating that, ''Turkey, with the great concession and support of our people, took important steps in overcoming economic difficulties and fulfilled rooted reforms. Any step back from the point that was reached in economy will cause new difficulties. To this end, it is obligatory to continue the steps that would create uncertainty in the markets, damage efforts for stability. It is also obligatory to refrain from implementations and statements that would create uncertainty and damage confidence atmosphere.''
Sezer said corruption, which disrupted development problem and which is the main reason of social injustice, led to usage of country's sources for personal interests. He said reaching a transparent and honest administration understanding was important for the future of Turkey and Turkish people.
Sezer said re-structuring of education system was one of the issues that should be attributed importance, stating that compulsory education should be increased to 12 years, and that necessary efforts should be exerted to reduce the number of illiterate people.