The Türksat Satellite Communications and Cable TV Operations Company, one of the institutions targeted on the night of the failed coup attempt on July 15 last year to control communications, has seen great growth over the last year.
The company has rebounded despite bomb attacks and personnel losses, securing 11 percent growth since the coup attempt.
Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan said a touchstone of the failure of the coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) on July 15 was the Türksat Gölbaşı Campus, stressing that it suffered TL 7 million ($2 million) in damage before the company then grew by 11 percent.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) on the anniversary of the FETÖ coup attempt on July 15, 2016, Arslan pointed out that Turkish people proved what it meant to act with the consciousness and awareness of a nation by teaching another lesson to the world on July 15, also underling that those who attempted the coup pretended to defend the Republic of Turkey and Islam at first, but were actually traitors harming these values.
Arslan said that the terrorist soldiers who wanted to prevent Turkey's rise and survival made a serious attempt, recalling that Ferhat Derecik, Muhammed Emin Sergili, Bilal Davut Hasetçi and Halil Ersoy were injured, while Ahmet Özsoy and Ali Karslı, employees who did not give in to the coup plotters, heroically died as martyrs at Türksat, which was targeted by helicopters and putschist soldiers, after TRT's broadcast, during which the pirate declaration was read, was cut off.
Arslan pointed out that the terror cult and its supporters made extraordinary efforts to prevent the national channels from standing by the state and controlling the media that night. "Our staff did not give the requested support to them with the awareness of their task and made extraordinary efforts to support broadcasts by the national broadcasting institutions in our country and to continue our work," he said.
Arslan said that the facilities were damaged on the grounds and that Türksat employees did not help those who attempted the coup and that there were no disruptions in the satellite output of the broadcasts.
"Due to Türksat personnel who resisted the coup plotters heroically on July 15, broadcasts were not disrupted and our people were informed correctly," he added. "In this respect, our people came out in the squares to stand behind their leaders and said, ‘I am with Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister and the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the representative of my will'."
Arslan stated that the building at the Türksat Gölbaşı Campus was bombed by jets on July 15, rendering it unusable and that approximately TL 7 million was spent to repair the whole facility, including the damaged uplinks, explaining that the building, which had become simply debris, was enclosed in a glass partition and memorialized. The opening of the memorial will take place at a ceremony on July 14.
Noting that Türksat has continued to grow in all sectors in which it operates despite the adverse events of last year, Arslan said that net sales of the company, which were TL 846 million in 2015, increased by 11 percent in 2016 to TL 941 million and that the aim is to exceed a net sales figure of TL 1.1 billion this year.
Highlighting that Türksat, which continued its investments non-stop last year, has invested over TL 141 million in the fields of satellite, cable and information, Arslan said, "We plan to invest over $1 billion over the next three years to make Türksat one of the leading companies in Turkey and the world."