On the second anniversary of a coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), an international symposium was held in Istanbul yesterday to discuss the impact of the attempt.

The symposium was jointly organized by the July 15 Association - named after the date of the coup attempt that killed 250 people - with the Istanbul Municipality and Istanbul University. Daily Sabah Editorial Coordinator Meryem İlayda Atlas, Daily Sabah columnist Merve Şebnem Oruç, Egyptian author Abdurrahman Yusuf, Turkish academics İdris Kardaş and Haluk Alkan were among the speakers. The event focused on the international media's view of the coup attempt, investigations into FETÖ following the attempt and political consequences of the incident.

On Sunday, Turkey will hold commemorative ceremonies for the victims of the coup attempt and will host symposiums and panels about the incident that marked a turning point in the country's history.

July 15, 2016 was the first time that a coup faced a strong public resistance. The country's leaders Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Binali Yıldırım are credited for mobilizing the nation with their messages urging the public to confront the putschists. FETÖ faces an increased crackdown in the aftermath of the coup attempt. Thousands were detained or arrested since 2016 with coup trials still underway. In such a trial yesterday, a court in the central city of Kayseri ordered aggravated life imprisonment for İsmail Yalçın, a former general. Yalçın was the commander of a garrison in the city at the time of the coup attempt and would be appointed as "martial law commander" by putschists if the coup succeeded. Elsewhere, security forces detained four FETÖ suspects in Marmaris, a southwestern town, yesterday as they tried to flee to a nearby Greek island.