The Turkish people stood up for their country
It was around 10 p.m. when we heard unconfirmed reports claiming that some soldiers seized weapons from police in front of the Beylerbeyi palace, in the Beylerbeyi district on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. In a few minutes, a friend who was driving from the Anatolian side to the European side called and said, "The Bosporus bridge is blocked by the army."
It was followed by other rumors that Turkish airspace was closed to military traffic. It was either a huge terror attack or a coup attempt, I first thought. It was both...
It was known for a while that the Gulenists nested inside the Turkish army were preparing to stage a coup. Two days ago, prosecutors in the capital Ankara announced that the file seeking to extradite U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen, the self-exiled leader of the terrorist Gulenist organization who is in the U.S, was finally ready and sent to the Justice Department. The operations against the terror group have proceeded consistently. It was only a matter of time until they would try to do it and time was ticking. Unfortunately, since last year's terror attacks, which have been carried out by the outlawed PKK and DAESH, hit the headlines , the Gulenist threat was overshadowed.
In fact, what they tried to do is turn the terror attacks targeting not only Turkey but the world into an opportunity to achieve their goals. The small Gulenist junta group started by spreading a false terror alarm. Benefiting from the panic, they were going to take control of the government. I have to say that it was a really thorough plan, which would have succeeded in a short period of time if people had not intervened. As their number is small, they first attempted to seize TV channels starting with the state-owned TRT aiming to control the public perception. TRTWorld, the English language TV channel of TRT was their top priority, as they wanted to make the world believe that it was real, it was actually happening, it was successful. Taking the Turkish Army's Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar hostage, they sabotaged the official website of the Turkish Army and announced a parallel statement both on some TV channels and the website in question. Introducing themselves as "Turkish Armed Forces," they said, "The Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and the general security that was damaged. All international agreements are still valid. We hope that all of our good relationships with all countries will continue."
I know the whole world was ready to take the bait, some were going to be really sad while the rest would be very happy, as the global community do not know the fact that the Gulenist terror organization is one of the primary threats targeting the Turkish state and the Turkish people.
But we all know them. We all know them very well, what they are capable of, what they dare to do and how much lower they can go. In seconds, people started to vow "You will not get away with this," "You have to kill all of us before you become successful," "We will not let you take our country, our will." In minutes, the Turks were on the streets, they were in front of the tanks. It was not hundreds, it was not thousands; it was millions... It was not only Muslims, seculars, leftists, conservatives; almost everyone in Turkey stayed together and shouted: "We will not let that happen again."
When President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke to the Turkish people and called on them to resist the attempted military coup, the number of people on the street clashing with the Gulenists increased dramatically. It took hours, hundreds died, thousands wounded. They hit our country's parliamentary building and the intelligence's complex using our air forces. It was not only a coup attempt, but also a terror attack. We lost our friends, we lost our citizens; but we haven't lost our country.
I salute the Turkish people and Turkish security forces that worked side by side to stop the coup plotters, defended the democracy together, and showed the entire world that we will not kneel down in front of any terrorists. The Turks made history yesterday, made sure that the future would not resemble the past.
It was followed by other rumors that Turkish airspace was closed to military traffic. It was either a huge terror attack or a coup attempt, I first thought. It was both...
It was known for a while that the Gulenists nested inside the Turkish army were preparing to stage a coup. Two days ago, prosecutors in the capital Ankara announced that the file seeking to extradite U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen, the self-exiled leader of the terrorist Gulenist organization who is in the U.S, was finally ready and sent to the Justice Department. The operations against the terror group have proceeded consistently. It was only a matter of time until they would try to do it and time was ticking. Unfortunately, since last year's terror attacks, which have been carried out by the outlawed PKK and DAESH, hit the headlines , the Gulenist threat was overshadowed.
In fact, what they tried to do is turn the terror attacks targeting not only Turkey but the world into an opportunity to achieve their goals. The small Gulenist junta group started by spreading a false terror alarm. Benefiting from the panic, they were going to take control of the government. I have to say that it was a really thorough plan, which would have succeeded in a short period of time if people had not intervened. As their number is small, they first attempted to seize TV channels starting with the state-owned TRT aiming to control the public perception. TRTWorld, the English language TV channel of TRT was their top priority, as they wanted to make the world believe that it was real, it was actually happening, it was successful. Taking the Turkish Army's Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar hostage, they sabotaged the official website of the Turkish Army and announced a parallel statement both on some TV channels and the website in question. Introducing themselves as "Turkish Armed Forces," they said, "The Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and the general security that was damaged. All international agreements are still valid. We hope that all of our good relationships with all countries will continue."
I know the whole world was ready to take the bait, some were going to be really sad while the rest would be very happy, as the global community do not know the fact that the Gulenist terror organization is one of the primary threats targeting the Turkish state and the Turkish people.
But we all know them. We all know them very well, what they are capable of, what they dare to do and how much lower they can go. In seconds, people started to vow "You will not get away with this," "You have to kill all of us before you become successful," "We will not let you take our country, our will." In minutes, the Turks were on the streets, they were in front of the tanks. It was not hundreds, it was not thousands; it was millions... It was not only Muslims, seculars, leftists, conservatives; almost everyone in Turkey stayed together and shouted: "We will not let that happen again."
When President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke to the Turkish people and called on them to resist the attempted military coup, the number of people on the street clashing with the Gulenists increased dramatically. It took hours, hundreds died, thousands wounded. They hit our country's parliamentary building and the intelligence's complex using our air forces. It was not only a coup attempt, but also a terror attack. We lost our friends, we lost our citizens; but we haven't lost our country.
I salute the Turkish people and Turkish security forces that worked side by side to stop the coup plotters, defended the democracy together, and showed the entire world that we will not kneel down in front of any terrorists. The Turks made history yesterday, made sure that the future would not resemble the past.