Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Numan Kurtulmuş, said, "The greatest legacy that the night of July 15 left us was the victory of democracy and national will."
'July 15 Commemoration Ceremony' was held in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The program held in the Assembly Ceremony Hall; President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Numan Kurtulmuş, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, as well as ministers, political party representatives and many guests attended. The ceremony started with a moment of silence, the National Anthem and the reading of the Quran. Then, the President of Religious Affairs, Safi Arpaguş, prayed and watched a video about the coup attempt.
In his speech, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Numan Kurtulmuş, said, "July 15, 2016 has been 10 years since this treacherous coup attempt, which we continue to commemorate every year. It is an important anniversary in terms of both remembering and learning lessons from such important events. Therefore, we must remember over and over again what happened that night, never quell our anger, and never lose our will to call to account. Likewise, by taking a lesson from what happened before and after that night, our country can move towards a healthier and stronger tomorrow." "We need to fight together for this," he said.
'OUR NATION HAS DISPOSED ITS TRADITION OF COUPS'
Commemorating those who lost their lives on the night of July 15, Kurtulmuş said, "That night was actually one of the most important nights in Turkish history. On the one hand, there was treason and on the other hand, courage, on the other hand, heroism was demonstrated at an extraordinarily high level, and on the other hand, it was the night when probably the greatest treachery that these lands had ever seen throughout their history was displayed. That night, there was a struggle between those who stood in front of the tanks and tried to stop the tanks with their bare hands, and those who took shelter behind the weapons given to them by the nation. That night, their beliefs, values and It was the scene of a great struggle between those who sacrificed their lives without hesitation to protect their homeland and the puppets, servants and pawns of the imperialists. Every minute of that night is full of extremely important memories. However, in conclusion, the biggest legacy that the night of July 15 left us was the victory of democracy and national will. In fact, it started from the last period of the Ottoman Empire and continued throughout the history of our Republic, and we see it very often, especially in our multi-party political life. "Our nation left its mark on the chain of coups, which was a kind of continuation of the coup against Abdulaziz Khan, on the morning of the night of July 15, and has now thrown the tradition of coups into the dustbin of history," he said.
'MPS PROVIDED FOR DEMOCRACY'
Reminding that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was connected to a television channel on the night of July 15, Kurtulmuş said, "Millions took to the streets when our esteemed President gave the message to our nation in the most difficult and darkest hours of the coup, 'I am here, you also go to the streets, resist and give these men their place.' That evening, it became very clear, not only in the history of Turkey, but also in the history of world democracy, what important results the warm messages that can be established between the political leadership and the people can have. I Once again, I express my gratitude to Mr. President on behalf of our nation. It was not just a phone call, it was an important message that disrupted the oppressors and traitors and encouraged the nation. Without a doubt, the second greatest power of that night was the power of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. İsmail Kahraman Bey, the speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey at the time, called the Parliament to a meeting without hesitation. A great resistance to democracy was demonstrated by all political parties in the Parliament. "They started it and the traitors threw the bombs while the Parliament session was going on. Believe me, the gathering of the Parliament and the MPs defending democracy in their jeans and sportswear disrupted the order of these tools and their masters and revealed the power of the nation and democracy," he said.
'OUR NATIONAL SOLIDARITY IS THE FUNDAMENTAL CONDITION OF OUR NATIONAL SURVIVAL'
Emphasizing that the state will not be taken over by any mob, Kurtulmuş said, "Undoubtedly, one of the lessons we have learned is that the bright future of our nation is through openness, transparency, an understanding of the system based on institutions and the existence of strong institutions. We understood much better how the FETO traitors weakened the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) after the purification of the Turkish Armed Forces. Therefore, the strength of the institutions lies in the understanding of transparency, openness and a system based on rules. Likewise, the understanding of a strong state, the deep tradition of democracy and the rule of law." "It is an area that can be crowned. Our national solidarity is the basic condition of our national survival. If our nation had taken to the streets that evening without hesitation, without leaving aside political differences and without the awareness of national solidarity, I think Türkiye's next path would be to become stronger by studying these and similar lessons."
Kurtulmuş stated that they will proceed on a path that fosters brotherhood, strengthens justice, enriches legitimate politics and prioritizes national will above all else, and continued as follows:
"As we walk in this direction, two important tasks lie ahead of us in order to walk our way quickly and strongly. One of these is to make the 'Terror-Free Turkey' process, which we started under the leadership of our President and with the extraordinary guidance of Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, successful, and to reach the final point by preparing the laws in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Thus, we will prepare an environment in which not a single child of this country will ever take up a weapon again in the face of terrorism, for which we lost 50 years. "We will build 'Terror-free Türkiye' as one of the most important elements of our national survival. Undoubtedly, our second biggest duty while walking on this path is to meet the need for a new and strong constitution worthy of this nation. It should be handled with the understanding of a modern, democratic, participatory, inclusive, national constitution, and I hope that after completing our work on 'Terror-free Turkey' in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, we can start the process of making a new constitution as soon as possible with the joint efforts of all political parties."