The U.S. has become the latest country to fuel the West's negative attitude regarding July 15 commemorations by not allowing informative notices on the July 15 coup attempt to be placed on advertisement boards in subway stations in Washington, calling them too political.The Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD), who prepared the notices, released a statement yesterday about the U.S.'s decision to disallow it from placing informative notices about the July 15 coup attempt carried out by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), saying that permission was canceled unilaterally."MÜSİAD U.S., which was one of the first organizations in the U.S. that reacted against the coup attempt and declared that it was siding with the national will, made an agreement with some advertising companies to share informative notices about the incident. Yet, we received a negative response from the subway station management," the statement said."Despite the fact that an agreement had already been made, the U.S. authorities asserted that the notices were ‘political', and therefore not be allowed," it continued.
Highlighting that this embargo which is made in the U.S., the center of democracy and freedom, cannot be accepted, the statement also indicated that this is not a domestic problem but a big, international problem, as was mentioned in the notices.
"The unreasonable blockade on the issues that can be overcome through cooperation easily prompted us to think differently on the issue," the statement read, adding that these blockages, which are still being done despite it being a year since the incident took place, cannot prevent the struggle over democracy from being told.
Last week, MUSIAD revealed a written statement, announcing that the foreign branch offices of the association will make several activities on the anniversary of the July 15. The statement also indicated that there will be several conferences, ceremonies in mosques for those who were killed and advertisements on TV's and newspapers that condemn the incident.
Germany also banned a commemoration event for the July 15 coup attempt that was scheduled for July 10 in Hamburg. The cancellation was based on the insufficiency of parking lots and security concerns, while at the same time allowing pro-PKK events and Turkish opposition officials to stage rallies against the referendum.
The Dutch cabinet last week declared that Deputy Prime Minister Tuğrul Türkeş would not be welcome to travel to the Netherlands for a ceremony among Turkish expatriates commemorating last year's failed coup.
American authorities have yet to take steps to extradite fugitive FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen, who has lived in self-imposed exile since 1999 in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.
Despite Ankara sending "85 boxes of concrete evidence" to U.S. judiciary officials on Gülen and his network's culpability in last year's botched coup, according to statements by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other officials, no steps have been taken to bring him to justice.
July 15, 2016 marked the day Gülenist militants embedded in the ranks of Turkish military attempted to stage a coup against President Erdoğan and his democratically elected government. As a result of the failed attempt, 249 people died and over 2,500 people were wounded.