Opposition leader Bahçeli praises public resistance to Turkey coup bid

ISTANBUL

MHP leader Bahçeli greets the crowd. AA photo

Turkey's post-coup attempt Democracy and Martyrs' Rally marks a fresh chapter in history, the leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said on Aug. 7.

Devlet Bahçeli praised the popular resistance to the July 15 attempted coup during his speech at Yenikapı Square in Istanbul.

“I watch Turkey beaming with pride, there is faith here, will here," he said. “A new voyage begins from Yenikapı.”

He added: “People stood tall, taught a lesson to the traitors and terrorists of the July 15 coup bid.”      

Bahçeli, who leads the Turkish parliament's fourth party, said the attempted coup was a “fresh attempt to invade, carry out a massacre and destroy Turkey.”

He called the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) behind the coup attempt a “cancer” and called on Turks to unite against  the coup plotters.