'Spain stood up for Turkey, democracy after coup bid'

By Hasan Esen

MADRID (AA) – Spain clearly showed its support for Turkey and democracy after the July 15, 2016 defeated coup, said Turkey’s ambassador to Spain on Saturday.

“Spain clearly showed its attitude in favor of democracy and Turkey,” Omer Onhon told Anadolu Agency on the eve of the second anniversary of the defeated coup.

Onhon said that Spain was one of the first countries to voice support for Turkey’s elected government and Turkish democracy.

“First they sent a message of support, and later then-Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo went to Turkey and was received by our President [Recep Tayyip Erdogan],” he related.

He also met with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and visited parliament, which was bombed by putschists during the coup attempt, he added.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated 2016 coup, 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.

The Turkish ambassador also said that he believed good relations between Ankara and Madrid will continue under the new Spanish government.

Onhon said that in a recent meeting, Spanish Foreign Ministry’s State Secretary Fernando Martin Valenzuela Marzo told him that Spain will support Turkey’s European Union accession.