AKP is ‘stronger than ever’ says Turkish PM one month after coup attempt

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkish Prime Minister and leader of Justice and Development Party Binali Yildirim gestures as he delivers a speech during a meeting marking the 15th anniversary of the foundation of Justice and Development (AK) Party in Ankara, on August 14, 2016. AFP photo

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is “stronger than ever,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said, speaking one month after the failed coup attempt of July 15.

“Today we are stronger than ever,” Yıldırım said in an event marking the 15th anniversary of the AKP at its headquarters in Ankara, adding that on the night of July 15 Turkey’s media, police, governors and prosecutors “taught the coup-plotters a lesson.”      
                
“July 15 is a milestone. July 15 is the day when the nation’s independence and future were secured,” he added, saying that Turkey “with its people from different ethnic groups” had stood tall against the failed takeover.  
    
“We will remove terror as a problem in Turkey, specifically FETÖ and the PKK [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party],” Yıldırım vowed, referring to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who is believed to be behind the coup attempt.