Turkey's democracy survived a ruthless coup attempt last night. They bombed our Parliament, attacked the Presidential Palace and Turkish Intelligence HQ, they crushed people with tanks and fired on unarmed civilian protesters, but they failed.

Thanks to the brave Turkish people, the strength of democratic state institutions and the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, democracy has been restored and the Gülenist deep state has been disclosed more than ever. Anyone who claims that there is no such thing as a Gülenist deep state is either an idiot or willingly denying the truth for an agenda.

On July 16 last year, as I wrote the above lines in my article that was published with the same title, I was one of the millions who took to the streets, risking death. I had hopes for my country rather than sorrow even then, and when I look at the developments within this period, I am more convinced than ever that we have covered a lot of ground.

The state's fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which had been blacklisted as a threat against national security long before the coup attempt, is currently ongoing and gaining momentum. The cases regarding the coup attempt are also ongoing in accordance with the principles of a democratic state of law. Amenities belonging to FETÖ, which aimed to infiltrate the bureaucracy by organizing across the world mainly through the schools it established, are being hollowed out one by one. Despite this struggle made under extraordinary circumstances, the main opposition party were given the opportunity to organize a march that lasted 25 days and gathered around 175,000 people. In other words, the culture of democracy in our country is being upheld. But the only thing that has not changed since last year is the attitude of the U.S and the EU countries.

Instead of extraditing FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen, the U.S. has given asylum to a number of senior FETÖ operatives. Meanwhile, EU countries, especially Germany, have been protecting military officers that are confirmed FETÖ members. Analysts also acknowledge the role of Germany's pressure in the refusal to extradite the putschist military officers who fled to Greece. In Western media outlets, news reports favoring FETÖ are being released. So, it has become apparent in the eyes of the Turkish people that the North Atlantic bloc is deliberately protecting an organization that Turkey recognizes as the most oangerous threat to its national security.

It was probably calculated that the coup would have either divided Turkey or turned it into a satellite state like other countries under U.S. hegemony. They miscalculated by not taking the people's resistance into consideration. The Turkish people proved that their motherland is more than just a word to them by fighting for their freedom with all their strength, just the same way as they did nearly 100 years ago against occupying forces. This will always remain the same.

May the July 15 martyrs rest in peace.