Coup bid attack on republic: CHP

ANKARA

The coup attempt on July 15, 2016 was “an open attack on our republic, democracy and historical gains,” main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said.

“The coup attempt by FETÖ on July 15, 2016, which aimed to abolish the constitutional order, was unsuccessful thanks to the ‘right to defend,’ used by the parliamentarians of our nation’s political parties in line with their commitment to democracy,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in an interview with daily Hürriyet.

The failed coup attempt is not solely an attack against democracy that was staged on the night of July 15,
he said.

“FETÖ conspired against public institutions, especially the army, security bureaucracy, and the legal system, having received open support from the Justice and Development Party [AKP]
government for years.”

Two basic conditions must be fulfilled in order to avoid facing a coup attempt in
Turkey, he said.

“The first is the development and deepening of democracy. In other words, refining the legal system of the coup law. The second is to put all the dimensions of the coup attempt on the table and to illuminate all the dark points and bring the facts to the surface,” said CHP leader.

He stressed that the coup attempt has many questions to be answered, recalling that the chiefs of general staff and the intelligence agency did not personally brief the commission established in parliament to bring to light everything about the coup attempt.

Kılıçdaroğlu questioned the confessions of a soldier ahead of the coup attempt. The CHP leader asked why the government did not take action to prevent the coup attempt if it had received information via the ByLock application messenger system used by FETÖ members.