Coup soldiers sold their uniforms for a dollar: PM Yıldırım

ISTANBUL

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Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has blasted the suspects behind the July 2016 coup attempt for denying any involvement in courts, vowing to continue the struggle against the Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation (FETÖ).

“No one should be affected by the fact they play innocent today. The relatives of the martyrs and veterans should stay in peace. They [the plotters] sold their uniforms for a dollar, they sold their souls, their belief. They sold the flag on their chest and this nation,” Yıldırım said on July 12 at a book launch hosted by pro-government think tank SETA to commemorate the coup attempt.

He also heralded further steps to be taken against FETÖ, the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.

“The whole world should know this: This struggle will continue until there is not a single FETÖ member left who has not paid the legal price of their betrayal,” Yıldırım said. 

“There is no doubt we have further steps to take regarding the fight against the FETÖ terror organization. The struggle will continue with determination. What I want from my nation is to not lose your faith in this struggle and continue to support us,” he added. 

“Our nation rushed onto the streets and with its determination, the coup plotters were defeated. All these traitors will find the punishment that they deserve within the scope of the law,” Yıldırım said. 

He also said a majority of FETÖ members had been dismissed from the state since the coup attempt, while the media, financial and bureaucratic leg of the organization had been revealed. 

“The non-governmental organizations, schools and publishers with relations to this organization have been closed. There is no doubt that this determination to fight will continue in the coming days,” he said. 

Describing the research conducted by SETA on the coup attempt as “important,” Yıldırım said “it includes interviews with our citizens who have been on the streets on the night of the coup.”

“Citizens said they went out into streets because of the calls to prayer from the mosques. They know that calls to prayer at an unusual time means a call for jihad,” he added. 

Political leg of the coup

The prime minister also touched on the opposition’s call for the “political leg” of the coup to be revealed. He claimed that the AKP came from the “only political tradition fighting against FETÖ.” 

“Look at Turkey’s political history since 1966, when this organisation first emerged. There are only two eras where there has been a fight against FETÖ. One was under Necmettin Erbakan [the late leader of Welfare Party] and the other is the AK Party’s rule, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. All the other leaders got along with the organisation well,” Yıldırım said.