UPDATE - Thousands rally in Istanbul to mark 2 years to coup bid

By Cigdem Alyanak, Muhammed Gencebay Gur, Unal Gundogdu and Kaan Bozdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, CHANGES LEDE

ISTANBUL (AA) - Thousands of people flocked to the July 15 Martyrs Bridge in Istanbul to mark the second anniversary of the defeated coup attempt in 2016.

"July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day Meeting" began with a moment of silence for the martyrs and singing of the national anthem. The names of 251 martyrs were read out one by one and the Quran was recited.

Holding Turkish flags, some people chanted slogans such as “Martyrs do not die, the country is not divided”, “Every Turk was born a soldier” and “We do not want PKK in the parliament".

Some participants wore T-shirts with the star and crescent symbolizing the Turkish flag.

Relatives of the martyrs came to the venue with photos of their relatives.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a speech at the rally.

Earlier, Erdogan accompanied by First Lady Emine Erdogan, his grandchildren and some ministers and deputies -- visited the July 15 Martyrs' Monument.

Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

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