Coup plotters are not Kemalists: PM Yıldırım

“Every coup attempt has wounded primarily the memory of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the National Assembly which he pioneered its inauguration. None of the coup plotters is either Atatürkist or Kemalist. They are not a member of the armed forces and do not even belong to this country,” Yıldırım said.

Yıldırım especially noted that parliament was bombarded on the night of the coup attempt, a first in its 96-year-old history.

The premier also noted that thousands military officers and non-commissioned officers were discharged from the army, stressing that the moves were aimed at further strengthening the army amid a mass restructuring process.

“We are further strengthening our Turkish Armed Forces which was weakened by blows after the coup with these regulations. We are making it more ready for war. We are making it feel its primary duty which is preparation for war, operations and dissuasive power,” Yıldırım said, adding that the coup plotters aimed at paralyzing the army, as well as the country’s political and economic system.

As such, a number of factories and shipyards have been brought under the Defense Ministry’s control.

Yıldırım also said the military judiciary would operate under the Defense Ministry as the High Military Administrative Court and Military Supreme Court would be abolished to maintain unity in judiciary.

The premier also clarified that war schools had not been shut down but that high school departments and military colleges had been closed while restrictions on applications to war schools had been lifted.

Yıldırım reiterated that the Akıncı Air Base in Ankara, which was the center of the coup attempt, would be closed and that military barracks in Istanbul and Ankara would be moved out of the city centers. At the same time, the army aviation school in Güvercinlik will be closed and military build-ups will only be permitted in border regions to provide full security against foreign threats.

Yıldırım said a total of 35 health institutions, 1,045 educational institutions, 104 foundations, 1,125 associations, 15 universities, 29 unions, federations and confederations were shut down for alleged links to the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which has been blamed for the coup attempt.

He said the country literally stood on the edge of the abyss on the night of the failed coup attempt.

“Had the July 15 coup attempt succeeded, there would be neither constitutional and judicial process nor the parliament. Political parties would have been shut down and the political system would have been completely destroyed. There would be no mention of a free press, human rights and freedom of expression,” Yıldırım said, pledging that the fight against FETÖ would continue.

Commenting on the declaration of the state of emergency, Yıldırım said it was directed at the government, not at the nation, while adding that there would be no toleration of the slightest unlawfulness or violation of law and freedom.

Yıldırım said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would organize a huge “Democracy and Martyrs” rally at Istanbul’s Yenikapı on Aug. 7, adding that the leaders of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) had already been invited in a bid to “show unity and brotherhood solidarity to the nation in the best way.”