Fight against FETÖ will continue relentlessly, says Turkey’s communications director

ANKARA

Turkey has captured, tried and punished a number of culprits who were responsible for the botched coup on July 15, 2016 and will continue to hunt them down and bring them before justice, Turkey’s Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun has said.

“Many senior figures of FETÖ have already been brought to Turkey from abroad. They will never feel safe,” Altun told daily Hürriyet ahead of the fourth anniversary of the coup attempt.

The government holds the terror organization FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fethullah Gülen responsible for the coup attempt.

The government made sure that those who staged the coup attempt and other members of the organization are punished severely, and the fight against FETÖ has turned into an international struggle, according to Altun.

“As Turkey becomes a global power, this fight is also becoming increasingly global. They will run and we will chase them. We will make them pay for the people who lost their lives and were injured during the coup attempt. They failed to intimidate us with threats and conspiracies, we will never not be undaunted,” he said.

It was not only a coup attempt but also an attempt for the invasion of the country, but the people of Turkey, who fought for their country, for their honor and dignity, made history and July 15 became one of the symbols of independence, Altun added.

“They wanted to surrender our will, but people fought back, risking their lives.”

According to Altun, many changes have taken place since the coup attempt inside the country and abroad.

Global powers’ perception of Turkey has altered in the country’s favor and they realized that people of Turkey united around the leader they elected, and that people stand behind every step Turkey takes in the international arena, he noted.

“No one will ever dare to enslave this nation through coups, terror or other means designed to create tutelage. It is no myth or a fairy tale: They came, they saw and they were defeated. They will always face this reality,” Altun said.

The coup attempt was also a turning point in the fight against the PKK/YPG, according to the senior official.

“Turkey has shown a strong will under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to finish terrorist organizations off inside and outside the country. This was made possible by eliminating FETÖ members that infiltrated the security forces.”

Cross-border military operations carried out in Syria and Iraq spoiled the plans of those who tried to create” a terror state,” Altun added.

The events planned to commemorate the anniversary of the coup attempt, coordinated by the Directorate of Communications, will honor the spirt of “July 15” and carry it to the future, he said.