July 15 coup attempt and ‘The Century of Turkiye’

Seven years on, the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016, continues to be alive in the memories of our country. On the night of July 15, the Republic of Turkiye was attacked in the most treacherous way by a criminal, terrorist and intelligence organisation dubbed as FETO. FETO attempted to overthrow the democratically elected president of the Republic and targeted the legitimate government as well as the constitutional order and the democracy in Turkiye, which cost 251 lives and injured more than 2,196 of our innocent citizens.
This year’s commemoration events are dedicated to the Heroes of the “Century of Turkiye” who lost their lives while defending democratic rights and achievements of our nation, the sovereignty of the people and the goals of the Century of Turkiye. We owe our gratitude to our martyred and injured citizens on the night of July 15, 2016. The sacrifices of Heroes of the Century have shown that the Turkish nation will not surrender to any attempt that aims at Turkiye’s independence. On that night the Turkish people defended democracy and this heroic response to coup attempt contributed immensely to Turkiye to enter the new century of the Republic stronger.
The crimes committed on the night of July 15 were just the tip of an iceberg. Being established in the late 1960s as a “religious movement”, FETO managed to cover its malign intentions under the cloak of promoting education and inter-religious dialogue. FETO members infiltrated into the army, law enforcement, judiciary and numerous government institutions. As such, FETO which disguised itself as an education movement gradually turned into a clandestine operational structure aiming to transform the society by taking control of the Turkish state from within.
Fetullah Gülen, who is still living in the US for more than 20 years in a self-imposed exile, is the ringleader of this clandestine, criminal and terrorist organisation that is unprecedented in terms of its global reach, ambitions and methods. He is the mastermind behind what happened in Turkiye on July 15, 2016.
The perpetrators, a faction/junta within the army, launched a terrorist campaign firing at their own people and bombed the Turkish parliament, a symbol of democracy and the will of the nation for the first time in its history, along with other public institutions.
The foiled coup constitutes a landmark for the Turkish history in a way that proved to the whole world how Turkish nation resisted unprecedentedly the putschist FETO and protected its elected leader for the sake of democracy. Standing against the flagrant coup, the Turkish people courageously showed the world at the expense of their lives that they would not tolerate any attempt to thwart their national will.
After this fateful night, Turkish people rallied around the flag and took charge of their future. At a time the institutional structure and capacity of Turkish state was severely damaged by the repercussions of the coup attempt, Turkish people showed a unified stance to defend their democratic state and exerted every effort for it. Even during the ambiguous period in terms of security, any significant or chaotic incidents that may damage the stability were reported by the Turkish authorities.
In the past seven years, the fight against FETO both inside and outside of Turkiye has constituted one of the main priorities of our country. Turkiye is determined to eradicate all terrorist organisations that share similar hidden agenda with FETO and will not allow them to target its border as well its democracy and sovereignty. FETO members are being cleared from public and private sectors in many countries. Many schools affiliated with this terrorist organisation abroad have been transferred to the Turkish Maarif Foundation after 2016. Today, Maarif Schools are functioning in many countries and are providing excellent education worldwide. FETO-affiliated schools and education centres in 45 countries were closed down or taken over by the relevant countries.
I would like to reiterate on this occasion that we will never forget the solidarity of the brothers in Qatar with our country, and His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who was the first leader to condemn the coup among the world’s leaders.
With its deep-rooted democracy, history, according to the respected assessment authorities, Turkiye ensured a “fair, secure, transparent and peaceful” election environment for presidential and parliamentary elections held on May 14 and 28, 2023. Considering the direct correlation between the quality of the democracy and the level of engagement of citizens in politics, high turnout in both elections is a very clear sign that the Turkish people are committed to exercising their democratic rights. The last elections justified the maturity of our democracy and resolute acknowledgment of the power of the national will in Turkiye.
In the last few years, Turkiye has survived many challenging times – during the July 15 coup attempt, Covid-19 pandemic and the biggest earthquake disaster in the last century that hit 11 cities in southern region of Turkiye claiming the lives of around 60,000 people. Nearly more than 100,000 buildings collapsed and/or were severely damaged. Three weeks after the catastrophic earthquake, the government has started the reconstruction and revival of the earthquake zone and planned to build 650,000 new homes, 507,000 residences and 143,000 village houses. The government had already delivered during the Eid the first village houses whose construction had been completed.
We will commemorate the centenary of the Republic on October 29, 2023. We want to make this important anniversary the starting point of a brand new vision that will mark our next century. As we leave the first century of our Republic behind, we are sailing to new horizons which are unveiled by our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan under a comprehensive roadmap “Century of Turkiye”.
“Century of Turkiye” encompassing a series of programmes, projects, and targets across various sectors, such as defence, health, education, transportation, energy, agriculture and tourism will carry Turkiye above the level of contemporary civilisations which will take its power and energy from its democracy and the rule of law. The founder of our Republic, M Kemal Ataturk’s “Peace at Home, Peace in the World” maxim will continue to be the basic guiding principle of our foreign policy and one of the fundamental guides of our new roadmap “Century of Turkiye”.
Allow me to conclude this piece with the quote of our President Erdoğan regarding Turkiye’s new vision: “We share with all of humanity the good news that the “Century of Turkiye” is the name of a revolution that shall promote democracy, development, peace and peace of mind in all parts of the world, starting with our country and our neighbourhood.”
On the 7th anniversary of the treacherous coup attempt, we commemorate those who sacrificed their lives for our country and the nation with gratitude, and pay our respects to the veterans.