President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s first stopover in remembrance events for victims of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt was Parliament in Ankara. Before heading to a police headquarters where police officers were slain by military infiltrators of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), Erdoğan addressed a commemoration ceremony at the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Erdoğan heaped praise on the nation for resisting the attempt, adding that they should maintain the unity that was on display nine years ago to build on the efforts for a terror-free Türkiye. He was referring to an ongoing process where the PKK terrorist group began its disarmament last week.
The president, who had battled lawsuits and ultimatums from the powerful elite opposing his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) throughout his political career, overcame the odds to run the country when FETÖ first attempted to overthrow him in late 2013. The 2016 attempt was the most dangerous among them as he barely escaped an assassination attempt by FETÖ’s putschists. The charismatic leader managed to rally the nation to stand against FETÖ’s would-be junta, and an unprecedented public resistance quelled the attempt, at the cost of 253 lives.
Parliament was among the targets of the putschists who launched airstrikes on the complex during the coup attempt, though they failed to deter the lawmakers who flocked to the building and read a joint statement opposing the coup.
In his speech, Erdoğan likened resistance against the coup attempt to what happened in Çanakkale more than a century ago, referring to the Turkish army’s epic struggle against invading forces in the northwestern Turkish province, to counter the Allied forces trying to pass the Çanakkale Strait, trying to reach the Ottoman capital, Istanbul. Home to the renowned Gallipoli campaign, Çanakkale set an example for future public resistance against enemies, and years later, the War of Independence under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk expelled invading forces.
“On the night of July 15, the nation created an epic that will be proudly remembered forever. It was the latest example of the strength and invulnerability of a nation as long as it stood as one and united,” Erdoğan said.
He noted that that night, Türkiye defeated “mankurts who sold their soul,” referring to members of FETÖ. “The plot by the ringleader of FETÖ, who is buried in a pit after his death as a stateless person, was foiled by the brave stance of our nation,” Erdoğan added.
FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen died in Pennsylvania, U.S., in 2024 after spending years there.
“We drained the swamp they tried to push our country into. Our nation staved off an attempt to occupy the country. It was a critical turning point in our history,” he said.
Erdoğan said July 15 was also a litmus test that laid bare those opposing the coup and those “who supported it.”
“Our martyrs and veterans stood against terrorists wearing military uniforms, while others claimed it was staged. Some sipped their coffee watching the coup attempt, waiting to see what would happen next,” Erdoğan said, in thinly veiled references to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
CHP’s current chair, Özgür Özel, was among those rushing to Parliament to express opposition to the coup attempt, but the party, for a long time, adhered to the discourse that the coup attempt was a plot by the state, not FETÖ. Özel’s predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, was photographed enjoying a cup of coffee as he was watching the coup attempt on TV. After he conveniently left Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport, he arrived as the putschists were invading the place on the night of July 15, 2016.
The president thanked lawmakers for standing for democracy that night. “I thank all lawmakers regardless of their political affiliations. Ultimately, the sacrifices of our martyrs and veterans have not been in vain. Terror-free Türkiye, we are building step by step, will be their legacy,” he said.
The initiative was launched by government ally Devlet Bahçeli last year, and under the leadership of Erdoğan, it led to success when the PKK terrorist group heeded the call of its jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan last February and announced in May that it would dissolve itself.
Last Friday, the terrorist group made good on its promise, and 30 members of the PKK burned down their weapons in a ceremony in northern Iraq. More terrorists are expected to lay down arms in the coming months, while Parliament will tackle the steps in the initiative in the coming weeks.
A parliamentary committee is expected to be set up to form a legal framework on the initiative that, so far, has proceeded with unilateral steps by the PKK. Erdoğan said he had confidence in the “eternal brotherhood” of Turks and Kurds and Turkish democracy’s “problem-solving capacity.”
“I heartily believe that you will put aside your differences as you did on July 15, 2016, and you will support our country’s struggle to get rid of terrorism,” he said. Opposition parties have been largely supportive of the terror-free initiative, although some have expressed reservations and declined to participate in the parliamentary work.
