UPDATE - Turkey cannot be brought to its knees, says PM

UPDATES WITH YILDIRIM ATTENDING MASS GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY IN ANKARA

By Mumin Altas, Ilkay Guder, and Ayse Humeyra Atilgan

ANKARA (AA) - Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Thursday said the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) was trying “new tricks” to finish what it tried to do during the July 15 defeated coup.

Speaking in capital Ankara, Yildirim said: "Those who could not bring Turkey to its knees during July 15, are now trying to pull another trick.

"They are saying: 'How can we finish the job we attempted to do on July 15?' They think that they can bring our nation to its knees by talking about economic crisis, [portraying] chaos scenarios.

"Nobody, no power can hurt this country when our nation has the love of flag, land and state."

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Also on Thursday, Yildirim attended a mass groundbreaking ceremony of over 30 education facilities across Ankara, which would include schools, sport centers, dormitories and workshop studios.

"Here, we are founding not only buildings but also the bright future of our country," he told the crowd.

The whole project, which is worth over 500 million Turkish liras ($130 million), will be complete by the end of 2019, he said.

"This is an investment for education, the youth, the future," he said.

About the schooling rate in Turkey, he said the number of classrooms have been increasing, which in turn has reduced the number of students in a single classroom to 24 approximately.

He announced that 350 new schools would be built in capital Ankara within two years.

The investment "will be a model for the other provinces", he said.

The budget for education is around 150 billion Turkish liras ($39 billion), which is over 20 percent of the total government expenditure, Yildirim said.

"Turkey, as in every other field, has been taking firm actions in education as well to meet its goals," he said.