Erdoğan remembers ‘epic struggle of Turkish nation’

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has commemorated the anniversary of the 2016 coup attempt orchestrated by FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fethullah Gülen.

"On this historic day when our nation wrote an epic against the coup plotters, we are together again with one heart, one wrist," Erdoğan said at a memorial for the victims in Istanbul on July 15.

The visit commenced with a prayer for the fallen, followed by Erdoğan laying flowers at the monument.

"Today, I would like to thank once again all those who rushed to the streets and squares to resist the traitors without even waiting for our call from the first moments of the coup attempt," he said.

"May God rest the souls of all our brothers and sisters who shielded their chests against bullets that night and drank the sherbet of martyrdom, and may their souls rest in heaven."

The foiled coup targeted key locations in Ankara, Istanbul and elsewhere, resulting in over 250 deaths and around 2,200 injuries.

"We have seen the treacherous and brutal face of the coup plotters in the murders they committed here. We have not forgotten and do not forget any of those scenes engraved in our memory," Erdoğan said.

"Likewise, we remember with great pride the epic struggle of our nation against tanks and death-spewing weapons with their bare hands."

Following the coup attempt, the Turkish parliament unanimously passed a bill recognizing the anniversary as "Democracy and National Unity Day."

"We will not forgive those who shamelessly call July 15 a play, a theater, a collusion until doomsday. Those who cast these ugly slanders on July 15 are the extras of the bloody game that wants to be played on Türkiye and the big theater that wants to be staged," the president added.

"This nation will continue to defeat every game that touches its independence and tries to shackle its will, just as it has defeated every game."

In a pre-anniversary event, Erdoğan reflected on the event where "we wrote an epic against death-spewing weapons."

"They did all kinds of dastardly deeds to break the resistance of the nation but they could not achieve their insidious and bloody ambitions. They thought they would occupy Türkiye and seize the will of the nation, but 40 years of planning and preparation went down the drain in just a few hours."

The failed coup demonstrated "the servants of the imperialists that the will of the Turkish nation cannot be chained," he added.

First lady Emine Erdoğan also issued a message on the anniversary.

"The light that reached the morning of that dark night is the victory of national will, unity and solidarity. The hearts of the heroes of this blessed resistance continue to beat in the hearts of our nation," she wrote on social media.

"We will protect and glorify the sacred trust left by them forever."

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev sent a letter to Erdoğan, expressing his "respect for those who sacrificed their lives" to prevent the coup attempt.

Aliyev said the day will forever symbolize the Turkish people's solidarity, struggle and national unity.

"The people and the state of Azerbaijan strongly condemned this treachery from the first minutes and, as always, stood by the brotherly Turkish state and people," he said, reaffirming Baku's strong support for Ankara.