Embassy of the United States

Bahçeşehir University
January 20, 2009

Thank you for inviting me to spend this special evening with you at Bahcesehir University, and thank you, Ece Başaran, for all your hard work in organizing this evening’s events.

Tonight one billion people around the world are watching the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States and our first African-American president.  The historical significance of this day is apparent to all of us.  This is especially so as yesterday Americans celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., America’s most famous civil rights leader, who fought for the rights of black Americans and was assassinated for his beliefs in 1963.  Yesterday he would have been 80 years old.  In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered shortly before his death, Dr. King spoke of the day when his children would be judged “not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”  The United States and our democracy are not perfect, but I believe all Americans feel that today we are taking a giant step to achieving Dr. King’s dream.

To honor Dr. King, Barack Obama called for yesterday to be a national day of public service in the United States.  Sunday night when the President-elect spoke to a crowd of 750,000 people in Washington, he called for Americans to meet the great challenges our nation faces.  He said:  “There is no doubt that our road will be long, that our climb will be steep.  But never forget that the true character of our nation is revealed not during times of comfort and ease, but by the right we do when the moment is hard.”

But the challenges America faces are not America’s alone, and America cannot face them alone.  Turkey is an important partner to the United States and we must face our challenges together – in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, in healing the global economy, and in upholding democracy and the respect for human rights.

Today leaders from both political parties and people from all backgrounds will gather with high hopes and expectations in a very cold Washington, D.C. – the temperature is around freezing today.  We are proud of the fact that after a long and difficult election campaign, the nation is unifying behind our new President.  I can’t tell you what Barack Obama will say, but I can tell you that some of our greatest inaugural addresses have been the shortest.  President John F. Kennedy’s address in 1961 was only 12 minutes long, but we will never forget when he said:  “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”  President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, delivered during the American Civil War, was only four paragraphs long. 

So please enjoy today’s ceremony and ask me and my colleagues here tonight about what you are seeing.  And I encourage you to go home tonight and get on Facebook and talk to your friends about how you felt about the experience.  Thank you again for inviting me here tonight to share this special occasion.