UPDATE - Praising Turkish nation, Erdogan marks Victory Week

ADDS STATEMENT FROM PM BINALI YILDIRIM; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Baris Gundogan

ANKARA (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday spoke out on Turkey's Victory Week, praising the resolution and determination shown by the nation during the 1919-1923 War of Independence.

The last week of August marks two key historical victories by Turkish forces: the Battle of Malazgirt on Aug. 26, 1071, which saw Seljuk Turks defeat a Byzantine army and open up Anatolia for Turkish domination.

It also marks the start of the Great Offensive of Aug. 26, 1922, which saw invading Greek forces' eventual defeat at the hands of the Turkish army.

In a statement, Erdogan lauded the Great Offensive -- the final and biggest military operation of the Turkish War of Independence -- as a “symbol of the Turkish nation’s revival”.

The resolution and determination displayed by Turks during the great victories prove that the Turkish nation has enough “power and courage to overcome every kind of difficulty,” he said.

“The prices that our ancestors paid in order to make this soil our homeland, and our nation’s determination in fighting -- which has become a model for the entire globe -- is the greatest guarantor of our republic,” Erdogan added.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also lauded the “firm stance” of the Turkish people in establishing the security of the nation, its flag and independence.

The Turkish leaders’ remarks come days before the 95th anniversary of Victory Day on Aug. 30, which commemorates victory in the Battle of Dumlupinar, in Turkey's Aegean province of Kutahya in 1922, part of the Great Offensive.