We have left behind the first anniversary of the attempted coup of July 15. Many things have happened over the last year but two things very clearly came to the surface. We saw both the significance of the public's struggle for democracy, a public that has been unable to attain a full-fledged democracy and full independence after a continuous cycle of coups since 1950, and the enormous power of the pro-coup mindset at home and abroad.

The attacks by the coup-lovers and plotters continue while the defenders of democracy refuse to desist from their goals. Also there are some groups that seem from the outside that they are with the July 15 martyrs and veterans and embrace the spirit of the democratic struggle, but in reality they are carrying out the same goals and ambitions as the plotters. These groups are led by left wingers, as well as ultra-rightists and opposition groups. Millions who vote for the Republican People's Party (CHP), those self-proclaimed social democrats or left-wingers, and those who gut-wrenchingly clamored for full independence until recently are doing this in the name of justice and democracy.

These groups are backed by the EU and the U.S. within the context of hostility toward Turkey in many EU countries, especially in Germany and Austria. Accordingly, Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) members overtly embraced in NATO and FETÖ-linked fugitive judges and prosecutors are given the red-carpet treatment by EU institutions. One thing is clear, the EU backs a variety of groups with the concern of democracy, but whose intentions are evidently nothing to do with democracy.

CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu held a "justice" march recently. This march by itself was a peaceful democratic action taken by the opposition leader and was not confronted by obstacles or resistance it concludeded with a huge rally in Istanbul. This shows the maturity of Turkish democracy. However the way European media outlets described this march and the meeting afterward as if it was "an answer to the crowd flooded in the streets on July 15." The whole thing was conducted with the aim overshadowing July 15. This is very dangerous.

July 15 is not about siding with the opposition or the government. Backing the coup plotters or using the opposition against the July 15 spirit is evidently a position against the Turkish people. On that night, it was the Turkish people who took on tanks and bullets with their bare hands. But it is the plotters for whom the CHP is asking for justice, with the backing of the EU and the U.S.. It was the plotters who fired bullets on its own people and bombed Parliament with F16s. The people who resisted tanks and bombs with their bodies made history. By doing so, Turkish society not only embraced their own country and democracy, but also challenged FETÖ, a group dating back to the Cold War run by imperialist global forces.

Now, I need to add that the July 15 resistance was the re-crowning of the war of independence 100 years later. Those who want to side with the Turkish people should recognize it at face value for the sake of democracy rather than backing any group or action with the hope of overshadowing July 15 and using their poor understanding of democracy as a stick.