Erdoğan addresses the nation on the 4th anniversary of coup attempt
ANKARA- Anadolu Agency
No matter how much the terror groups FETÖ and the PKK plot against Turkey from within or without, they cannot silence the adhan, lower our flag, said Turkey’s president on July 15, on the fourth anniversary of a defeated coup.
On the night of July 15, 2016, the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) “tried to shackle this freedom-loving nation, thank god they could not succeed,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his address to the nation marking July 15, Democracy and National Unity Day.
The public opposition to the coup bid that night proved “that each individual of our nation can become an invincible hero for the adhan [call to prayer], flag, freedom, and the future,” he added, stressing that the nation frustrated those who want to “put the national will under their feet."
The defeated coup tried to invade the country, using terrorists in the army as a miserable betrayal, but this coup bid only fueled the country’s patriotic determination, he added.
Turkey is “not finished yet, this nation has many words to say, many projects to implement. This state has a lot of potential to motivate,” he added.
FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured on July 15, 2016.
Turkey marks July 15 as Democracy and National Unity Day with events nationwide to commemorate those who lost their lives beating back the putschists and to remember the bravery of the nation.
A number of structures and public spaces were renamed in the immediate aftermath of the coup bid, most notably Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge becoming the July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge.
Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
Turkish missions in US mark anniversary of coup attempt
Meanwhile, Turkish missions in the U.S. on July 15 marked the fourth anniversary of the July 15.
The Turkish embassy in Washington, DC and Turkey's Permanent Representative to the U.N. with the Consulate General in New York held separate events that started with a minute of silence observed in the honor of the victims
of the defeated coup, followed by the singing of the national anthem.
In his address Turkey's Ambassador to the U.S. Serdar Kılıç said Turkish people showed at the coup night that they "will not allow any external intervention" on their future.
"July 15 is the anniversary of Turkish people's message that says 'I do not allow any intervention in my future. I make my own choice for the future of my country, I don't let anyone impose a preference,'" said Kılıç.
Speaking to the reporters following to the event, the ambassador underlined that Turkey sent all essential files to the U.S. on extradition of Gulen and added the review process of American authorities "shouldn't have taken that long."
"Our fight, which we know will be long-lasting, against FETÖ's structure abroad will be maintained united and decisively," Serhad Varlı, Turkey's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said during the event in New
York.