Nation will not allow July 15 defeated coup to be forgotten, erased from memory: Turkish President Erdogan

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ISTANBUL (AA) – Marking the Democracy and National Unity Day, the Turkish president said the nation will not allow the July 15, 2016, defeated coup to be forgotten and erased from memory no matter how much time passes.

Attending the July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day commemoration ceremony in Istanbul on Saturday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the coup attempt aimed to create a division between the Turkish nation and the Turkish army.

Türkiye on Saturday marked the seventh anniversary of the defeated 2016 coup bid by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

Speaking at the “Heroes of the Century of Türkiye” event, Erdogan said: “Just as we know the traitors from FETO, we have also recorded entities that support traitors in a way that will not be erased from our memory.”

Since its official designation in October 2016, every year the nation marks July 15 as Democracy and National Unity Day, with events held nationwide to commemorate those who lost their lives defeating the putschists and to remember the bravery of the nation.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup, which left 253 people dead and 2,734 injured.