"On the 10th Anniversary of July 15: Our Will, Our Victory" panel was organized in cooperation with the Presidency Directorate of Communications and Ankara University.
The panel held in the Presidency's Conference Hall was coordinated by Ankara University (AÜ) Faculty of Languages, History and Geography Dr. Lecturer Member Lemi Atalay, Vice President of Communications İlhami Giray Şahin, Sabah Newspaper Ankara Representative Okan Müderrisoğlu and AÜ Faculty of Political Sciences Faculty Member Assoc. Dr. Ozan Zengin took part as a speaker.
Vice President of Communications Şahin stated that the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) encountered unexpected resistance when President Erdoğan called the nation to the streets, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli stated that they were against the coup attempt, and then Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım invited the nation to the streets on television.
Stating that he thought that FETO would successfully complete the coup attempt with its infiltration of institutions, Şahin said, "Alhamdulillah, all of these were in vain." he said.
Şahin said that the terrorist organization in question is currently carrying out activities with non-governmental organizations and various lobbying activities in different countries, indicating that they are party to the victimization, and continued as follows:
"They were dealt the biggest blow when they thought that all of these were unfounded, the reality was far from this, and that they settled into state mechanisms at a level that would sabotage these criteria of merit, settled in universities, and established the belief that only those who are subject to them, without any criteria of merit, and that only structures that are compatible with them have the right to live."
Stating that, as the Directorate of Communications, they carried out two separate activities to remind us of the coup attempt, Şahin said that they will implement many events worthy of the spirit of July 15 with the theme "Our Will, Our Victory".
Şahin also remembered with gratitude those who were martyred in the July 15 coup attempt.
Atalay also stated that lessons should be learned from events such as the coup attempt and that they organized the panel in this direction, and that July 15 was an important turning point in the history of Türkiye's democracy.
Emphasizing that lessons should be learned from events such as July 15, Atalay said, "We hope that this panel will reveal important knowledge and achievements in this direction and convey them to the public." he said.
Müderrisoğlu also emphasized that some nights are engraved in the memories of nations, and July 15 is one of these nights.
Emphasizing the importance of July 15, Müderrisoğlu said, "Members of different ages and generations of this nation, who prepared for coups in one way or another, remained silent, stood aside, and then did serious soul-searching, on the night of July 15, the leadership of the President and the trust in him, resisted with their lives those who aimed at the country, an invasion attempt, and national unity and integrity, and helped to cross the most critical threshold in our history of democracy, in my opinion, irreversibly." he said.
Müderrisoğlu drew attention to the importance of the democracy watches held after July 15 in order to protect democracy.
Müderrisoğlu said that FETO and similar structures are "living organisms".
Noting that FETO is trying to keep itself alive and re-exist, Müderrisoğlu stated that the terrorist organization is trying to find financial resources through companies established by those who escaped abroad or through different solidarity mechanisms and transfer them to its organizers.
"What happened on July 15 shows that it was an attack against Türkiye itself."
AÜ Faculty of Political Sciences Lecturer Assoc. Dr. Zengin also stated that "July 15" was a day of victory that was eliminated by the state administrators and the nation under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Zengin stated that the coups were an attempt to overthrow those in power, and underlined that in a sense, they were the suspension of the nation's right to sovereignty by force of arms.
Zengin pointed out that what happened on the night of July 15, 2016 differed from the military interventions that Türkiye had encountered before in some aspects, and stated that this coup attempt was not a classic coup attempt that arose only within the military.
"It is an attempt by a parallel structure organized outside the constitutional hierarchy, which has penetrated the state institutions through different methods for many years, to take over the state administration by using armed force. In this respect, July 15 is not only a serious attack on the constitutional order, but also a historical point that reminds us of the importance of merit, transparency, accountability, democratic and legal control in state institutions. What happened on the night of July 15, the bombing of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the targeting of security institutions and the armed attacks on citizens, indicate that the incident was only a change of government." It shows that there is no attempt and that it is an attack against the state and the Republic of Türkiye itself.
However, the call made by Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the public on the same night, the fact that the Turkish Grand National Assembly continued its activities, the political parties took a common stand against the coup attempt, the security forces defended the constitutional order, and many citizens took to the streets to defend democracy, showed that democratic legitimacy is embraced by large segments of society, apart from state institutions."