World leaders express solidarity with Turkey over coup attempt

ANKARA

Messages of solidarity from the world leaders poured into Turkey to mark the third anniversary of the failed coup attempt.

“Our solidarity with the Turkish people is not in question at all,” the European Union’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, said in Brussels.

FETÖ is widely believed to have orchestrated the failed coup attempt, which left 251 people killed.

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.

Addressing a meeting of a foreign ministers council, Mogherini said EU members remember July 15, 2016.

“Today is the third anniversary of the attempted coup, and I think that we all remember that day and that night very well,” she said.

Mogherini said she also talked to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu “about Turkey’s activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

She said the member states will discuss the issue, as well as the Iran nuclear deal, immigration and situations in Africa and Libya.

Separately, Serbia’s Interior Minister said on July 14 that Serbia supports Turkey in its fight against FETÖ.

Nebojsa Stefanovic’s remarks came at the “Salcano Turkey-Serbia Friendship Bicycle Race” commemorating those killed in the July 15 failed coup attempt.

Representing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Stefanovic underlined that the fight against FETÖ is of great importance to Serbia as well.

“In the coup attempt three years ago, those who thought that they could defeat the Turkish people and the state received a strong and effective response from the Turkish people,” he said, stressing that the popular Turkish will should be respected. Stefanovic said Serbia continues to support Turkey’s fight against terrorism as it did three years ago.

“We want to fight against all forms of terrorism and organized crime with Turkey. Cooperation between the two countries has been reflected in all areas, with the initiatives of the two countries’ presidents, Aleksandar Vucic and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” he said.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s ambassador to Belgrade, Tanju Bilgiç, thanked the Serbian authorities who always supported Turkey’s fight against FETÖ.