Since being inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year, more than 54,000 people visited the July 15 Martyrs and Democracy Museum in the capital Ankara.
Built by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the museum aims to inform visitors about the July 15, 2016 coup attempt that killed 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.
Through video installations, photos and the personal belongings of coup victims, the museum tells the stories of the coup attempt, which was the work of military infiltrators of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
It consists of eight different galleries, including Coups in Turkey and around the world, Threat of a bullet, Drown into the darkness, The longest night, Those who leave a trace, Sela, Respect to the Martyrs and Democracy Watches.
The museum aims to inform future generations about what happened on Jul., 15 through digital methods. In one year, 54,000 people visited the museum. Children under the age of 13 make up 5,800 of the visitors to the museum.
Besides veterans and martyrs’ relatives, the museum attracts great attention from high school and university students as well as expats.
Some 400 people, consisting of official delegations from abroad, and foreign students, have also visited the museum, including tourist groups from Serbia, Bulgaria, Italy and Romania.
The Longest Night gallery, where the beginning of the July 15 coup attempt to its prevention are animated step by step with a giant video projection, is the section where visitors spend the most time and get emotional.
Visitors also show great interest in the glass-domed gallery of the museum called Sela that echoes the calls from the mosques on the night of July 15.
There is also a tree that symbolizes Turkey’s past with its roots and its bright future with its branches and leaves.
