His Majesty William Wilberforce Gabula Nadiope the IVth, King of Busoga, our esteemed host this evening,
Respected Honorable Rebeca Kadaga, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda and Minister for East African Community Affairs
His Eminence Sheikh Muhammad Ali Waiswa, Deputy Mufti of Uganda,
Mr. Ömer Aykon, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency country coordinator for Uganda,
Chiefs from various chiefdoms in Busoga,

Dear brothers and sisters,

Endless praise and gratitude be to Allah the Almighty, who has once again brought us to the peaceful and prosperous atmosphere of the blessed month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is an exceptional time when divine values such as spiritual purification, tolerance, unity, and solidarity are intensified. Being here tonight and sharing this Iftar table is an embodiment that we stand with these values.

I would like to thank His Majesty for his hospitality this evening and the Turkish Development Agency-TİKA for sponsoring this outstanding event, they are the ones who have brought us all together this evening and allowed us to share the essence of holy Ramadan. Let’s give them a big applause.

Taking this opportunity, I also would like to extend my gratitude to the Honorable First Deputy Prime Minister, Madam Kadaga, for her contribution to the enhancement of bilateral relations between our brotherly countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Cooperation in the field of development is an essential part of our multidimensional bilateral relations with Uganda.

Turkish Government Institutions - TIKA being the most effective and experienced one - as well as Turkish NGOs, have been instrumental in this field. As of today, TIKA has accomplished 76 projects in Uganda since the early 2000s and it plans to complete 7 projects in the first half of 2024.

I am proud to share with you that our NGOs as well, have been carrying out various projects, small and big, in almost every corner of Uganda not only during the holy month of Ramadan but throughout the whole year.

The spirit of Ramadan can be best expressed in a single word: sharing. This is what makes Ramadan a special time. Sharing is symbolized by coming together at Iftar dinners with guests, relatives, neighbors, and friends. Sharing of God’s gifts by rich and poor, young and old, men and women. TIKA and the Turkish NGOs have been accomplishing these projects with this understanding and spirit for long.

Esteemed guests,

We have many challenges in the world today. Terrorism, extremism, poverty, inequality, conflict over resources. But I would argue that the most serious danger facing humanity today is intolerance. We must all join hands to defeat intolerance in all its forms. We can achieve this by embracing all human beings as brothers and sisters and putting all quarrels aside.

Türkiye has long been vocalizing the danger posed by xenophobia, Islamophobia and racism in the international arena. I am proud to say that March 15th has been announced by the United Nations General Assembly as “International Day to Combat Islamophobia” thanks to the pioneering role of Türkiye.

I sincerely believe that Uganda is a good example in this respect, where people with different faiths live together in peace and harmony, as we are also demonstrating here this evening.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last year we all were shattered by the huge loss of lives caused by the devastating earthquakes that occurred in Türkiye just before the start of holy Ramadan.

Unfortunately, this year we welcomed Ramadan with another plight. This plight is the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza caused by the ongoing Israeli attacks and massacres.
Since the beginning of Israeli aggression and brutal use of force more than 33 thousand Palestinian innocent civilians have been killed, over 75.000 Palestinians were wounded and 85 percent of the Gazan population have been internally displaced.

It is also devastating to see hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian people in Gaza being deprived of basic needs such as food, clean water, medicine and healthcare.

Türkiye surely will continue to oppose the deliberate targeting, killing, torturing and starving of civilians and children in Palestine.

As I conclude my words, I would like to emphasize that it is our sacred duty to always stand by our oppressed and victimized brothers and sisters with our material and moral support.

May Allah accept all our worship and prayers.

Eid ul-Fitr marks the end of the month-long fast of Ramadhan and a few days left for it.

Therefore, I wish you a blessed Eid-ul-Fitr filled with happiness, good health, and success.