A decade after the July 15, 2016 coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), museums and monuments across Istanbul continue to preserve the memory of the resistance and pass the events of that night on to future generations.
Key locations across Istanbul became centers of resistance as people took to the streets to confront the coup plotters. The July 15 Martyrs Bridge, then known as the Bosporus Bridge, Saraçhane, Çengelköy, Atatürk Airport, the Istanbul Police Department's Vatan compound and several other locations witnessed some of the night's most critical moments.
Across Türkiye, 253 people were killed and more than 2,700 were wounded while resisting the coup attempt.
Ten years later, museums, monuments and memorial sites built at locations where the resistance unfolded continue to document the events and serve as symbols of Türkiye's struggle for democracy.
Among them are the Memory of July 15 Museum, the July 15 Martyrs Memorial, the Saraçhane July 15 Monument, the July 15 Martyrs Fountain in Çengelköy, the Bağcılar July 15 Martyrs Monument and the July 15 Democracy and Republic Monument in Beşiktaş.
Located at the entrance to the July 15 Martyrs Bridge, the Memory of July 15 Museum is one of the main sites dedicated to preserving the events of the coup attempt.
The museum examines July 15 alongside the broader history of coups and colonialism in Türkiye and around the world. Among its exhibits is a car crushed by a tank driven by coup plotters.
Three-dimensional displays and digital projection rooms use authentic footage, tank sounds and recordings of key moments to recreate the atmosphere of the night.
The museum also displays the mobile phone used by journalist Hande Fırat during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's televised call urging people to take to the streets and oppose the coup attempt.
Shoes worn by people killed and wounded while confronting the coup plotters are exhibited in a dedicated section. A beret and dagger belonging to noncommissioned officer Ömer Halisdemir, who became one of the symbols of the resistance, are also on display. Nearly 2 million people have visited the museum to date.
Near the bridge, the July 15 Martyrs Memorial was built at Şehitlik Park on Istanbul's Anatolian side. A cypress tree and a rose represent each of the 253 people killed.
Designed with a pentagonal plan and steel dome, the memorial symbolizes national unity and solidarity. Inscriptions inside bear the names of the victims, while Islamic calligraphy highlights the concept of martyrdom.
The Saraçhane July 15 Monument depicts people who performed ablution in an ornamental pool outside the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) building before confronting coup soldiers amid gunfire.
Its highly realistic figures were created using silicone and fiber materials also used in Hollywood productions. Real human hair was individually implanted, while the figures' postures, clothes and facial expressions were modeled after security camera footage from the night.
In Çengelköy, where fierce resistance against the coup plotters took place, the July 15 Martyrs Fountain combines several symbols associated with the night's events.
Carved from a single piece of natural marble and weighing 35 tons, the fountain takes the form of a drop of blood and a tear. Its design represents the blood of those killed, tears, mercy and the bullets fired during the coup attempt.
The Bağcılar July 15 Martyrs Monument, meanwhile, focuses on the unity displayed by people from different political and social backgrounds.
Interlocking architectural forms symbolize people standing together against the coup attempt. Bullet, tank and bomb figures represent attacks on Türkiye's independence, while the monument carries the words, "One Nation, One Flag, One Homeland, One State."
Overlooking the July 15 Martyrs Bridge from the hills of Ortaköy, the July 15 Democracy and Republic Monument in Beşiktaş links the resistance to Türkiye's broader history.
The monument features hands raising the crescent and star toward the sky. Its height of 1,923 centimeters (63 feet) references the founding of the Republic in 1923, while a 1,453-centimeter Türkiye map symbolizes the conquest of Istanbul in 1453.
