Int’l Istanbul meet hails coup bid resistance of Turks

By Nilay Kar Onum

ISTANBUL (AA) - An international symposium in Istanbul recalled Tuesday the brave resistance of Turkish people against putschists during the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

The symposium titled "July 15 Resistance for Democracy: Coups in the Middle East and Turkey" was held a day after Turkey marked the third anniversary of the defeated coup.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 others injured.

During the opening speech of the event, organized by Middle Eastern Studies Center (ORSAM), an Ankara-based research center, and Istanbul University, Emrullah Isler, Turkey’s former deputy prime minister, explained how the Turkish nation turned the bloody night into a "bright day".

"People took to the streets before the call of our president [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] and some were martyred in [the capital] Ankara as of 10 p.m. local time [1900 GMT]," Isler said.

"This showed that people do never want to abandon their gains from now on," he said on the historic fight of the Turkish nation to defend their democracy.

Praising the courage of Turkish people, Isler said: "That night, resisting the tanks and planes needed courage. This nation has this courage."

"Turkish people set an example to the world that how people could protect the democracy and its national will through their resistance on July 15," he added.

- 'Heroic struggle of honorable Turkish people'

For his part, Ayman Abd Al Azizi Nour, Egyptian politician and chairman of the El Ghad party, also hailed Turkish nation’s commitment to the democracy during the defeated coup night.

"We saw a heroic struggle by Turkish people during July 15, who expressed that the will belonged to themselves. We need to be proud of honorable Turkish people," Nour said.

Following the 2013 coup in Egypt, Nour said he planned to go to France after staying in Lebanon and Turkey.

"When I arrived here [Turkey], I said, ‘I would not leave this country. I would either die in this country or in my own country. I need to live in this nation.’ Because this nation is a nation, who protects their will," he said.

Also addressing the symposium, Yemeni researcher Ateq Garrallah treated the difference between the coups in Turkey and Yemen.

"Turkish people did not accept the coup attempt and they stood against it but they [coup plotters] in Yemen made people think that the coup was only against a political side not against people," Jarullah said. "So, the outcome was different."

Talking about the recent situation in Yemen, he said: "The main goal in Yemen right now is to destroy the political identity and to prevent peaceful transition in the country."

"Gulf countries do never want democracy in Yemen and a strong government," he added.

Ahmet Uysal, director of ORSAM, talked about the independence struggle in the region.

"After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the soil of the region was shared and it is called the Middle East. We share the same destiny [with Middle Eastern nations] but we [Turkish people] exerted great efforts for independence," Uysal said.

"If the coup attempt was successful, we would be a part of new axis drawn by Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia," he said, adding that as a result, Turkey would become a weak country.

Turkey marked July 15 as Democracy and National Unity Day. The day was commemorated with events honoring those who lost their lives while defeating the coup plotters and to remember the bravery of the nation.

Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the legitimate state apparatus through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.