OTS: Fourth Anniversary of the Foiled Coup Attempt in Turkey...

FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOILED COUP ATTEMPT IN TURKEY: THE POWER OF TURKISH DEMOCRACY

Summer is known to be the season of joy, happiness, relaxation and holiday. The summer of 2020 is very different due to COVID-19 pandemic and the strict measures taken to help the spread of the virus. It is certainly a global challenge and we need global cooperation to be stronger against this common enemy, i.e. the virus. As the President of the Slovak Republic Her Excellency Madame Zuzana Caputova puts it, “We need globalisation of compassion and solidarity to provide tests, vaccines and treatment for COVID-19: because no one is safe until everyone is safe”.

Very similarly, the summer of 2016 was also a very extraordinary summer for Turkey. Four important years have passed since the 15th of July coup attempt carried out by the FETO terrorist organization. On the night of July 15, 2016, a terrorist attack was carried under the cover of a coup attempt by a group of soldiers and their collaborators who define themselves as the “Council for Peace at Home”. It was a very tragic summer in Turkey.

The coup attempt led by a rogue armed faction and their civilian collaborators belonging to the Fetullah Gulen Terrorist Organization (FETO), aimed to topple the constitutional order and democracy with a military junta. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey was air bombarded. The Presidential Complex, Turkish National Police departments were attacked. The FETO coup plotters targeted public and private communication outlets, including TRT (state broadcasting channel) and CNN Turk. The trauma experienced by the Turkish nation was immense. The death of 251 people and wounding thousands... They tried to assassinate the democratically elected President of the Republic of Turkey.

July 15th was plotted at the time when the government had discovered and listed most of the so-called military personnel who were actually recruits of FETO and thus was getting ready to dismiss them. In other words, July 15th was a desperate final move of Fetullah Gulen and his followers to keep their control in place in Turkey and capture the state. However, these treacherous putschists were not aware of the power of the Turkish people and the Turkish state.

Following this heinous attempt and terrorist attacks, the Government, opposition parties, civil society groups and citizens reacted in unity and solidarity. They defended the democratic order. This was a historic moment in Turkey. It will certainly be remembered in the future as a case in world political history demonstrating the success of the Turkish people’s resistance in the face of a military coup.

FETO has been organized under the cover of a religious structure for long years. It is a clandestine, criminal and terrorist organisation, which is unprecedented in terms of its global reach, ambitions and methods. The mastermind behind 15 July was a retired preacher Fetullah Gulen. All the evidence collected so far throughout the investigations and trials demonstrates that this terrorist attack was orchestrated by FETO under the instructions of Fetullah Gulen.

There is an extensive collection of factual evidence including video footage, digital materials gathered at Akinci Air Base (the center of operations of the coup-plotters), satellite communications among plotters, the confessions of FETO members who actively participated in the coup attempt and the statements of those Turkish officers resisting the coup attempt.

The crimes committed on the night of July 15th were just the tip of an iceberg. It all started under the guise of a charitable education effort back in the 1970s. Fetullah Gulen and his followers disguised themselves as a benign education movement, when they started the campaign of establishing schools in Turkey and later around the world. At the peak of their power, they controlled thousands of schools in Turkey and more than 800 educational institutes worldwide. In terms of their reach, they were unprecedented. We now understand that this was the first step of an infiltration campaign where kids and their parents were recruited with the seemingly innocent promise of a better education and a good job. Thus, the organization that disguised itself as an education movement gradually turned into a secretive operational structure aiming to transform the society by taking control of the Turkish state from within.

As its strength grew, the organization began to claim a global messianic mission, depicting Fetullah Gulen as the “Imam of the Universe”. His self-positioning as a moderate alternative to religious radicalism has no credibility in Turkey or the rest of the Muslim world. It is just a dishonest strategy to gain support. Concealment is their key tactic. The uniqueness of FETO as a terrorist group comes from its use of legal means and institutions as a cover to achieve illegal objectives. It has infiltrated thousands of adherents to the critical state institutions, such as the judiciary, the army, the national police, educational institutions and other segments of the public service. This extraordinary character of the aggression necessitated extraordinary measures. Dismantling the deep-rooted FETO network within the state institutions and judiciary was one of the painful but required measures. The aim has never been reprisal or retribution but the defence of the secular Republic. The whole process has been managed in full transparency and as prescribed by the Constitution and relevant laws and in full observance of the rule of law and international obligations. Legal remedies have always been provided for any question and continue to be so. Criticisms levelled at Turkey should take into account these facts. In the aftermath of the failed coup attempt, it is important to explain and emphasize the remarkable standing of Turkey as the pillar of secular democracy in its region and the world. The resilience of Turkish people’s devotion to democracy should be highly appreciated.

FETO is present in around 160 countries, with thousands of schools, businesses, NGOs and media houses. Their modus operandi is the same all around the world. As they aim to infiltrate and enlarge their global economic and political influence, they constitute a direct security threat for any country where they operate. Moreover, we have taken administrative measures and initiated legal proceedings to limit the manoeuvring space of the FETO terrorist organization abroad and to prevent its members from transferring money and escaping justice.

The civilized world faces ever-increasing challenges against its democratic universal values. Extremism spreads in all violent forms, terrorism being the most vicious. Resolute fight against terrorism requires solidarity, cooperation, intelligence sharing, and that is what we expect to see from our NATO Allies, partners, and friends around the Globe. The resilience and struggle for survival of Slovakia and the friendly people of Slovakia throughout history and contemporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic should be well acknowledged. Turkey and Turkish people have also proved their resilience many times in history as well as during our common global challenge, i.e. the COVID-19 crisis.

15 July is the Democracy and National Unity Day for Turkey. On the fourth anniversary of the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, we honour the memories of those who lost their lives defending Turkish democracy and national union, in fight against fascism and terrorism. May God rest their souls in peace! We are grateful to our martyrs who gave their lives for this cause and we will always cherish their honourable memories. We shall never forget that terrorism is a global threat to all humanity. Thus, we need globalisation of compassion and solidarity to fight against terrorism: because no one is safe until everyone is safe.

Asligul UGDUL

Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Bratislava

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