Ali Yalçın, Chairman of the Confederation of Civil Servants' Unions (Memur-Sen), said, "Not only a coup was repelled that night. At the same time, an invasion attempt was stopped. The goal was not only to change the government. The goal was to surrender the will of the Republic of Turkey."
Memur-Sen Chairman Ali Yalçın attended the 'Workers' Struggle Against the 15 July Treacherous Coup Attempt Panel' held at İŞKUR General Directorate within the scope of the 15 July Democracy and National Unity Day events. In the panel held with the participation of Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan, the struggle of the workers against the treacherous coup attempt of July 15 and their role in protecting the national will were discussed. Hak-İş Chairman Mahmut Arslan, Memur-Sen Chairman Ali Yalçın and chairmen of other confederations attended the program.
Memur-Sen Chairman Ali Yalçın underlined that 10 years have passed since the July 15 coup attempt, but the passage of time has not alleviated the pain experienced that night. Stating that considering July 15 as an ordinary date would mean ignoring what happened that night and the will of the nation, Yalçın said, "This is what distinguishes July 15 from other coups. Because not only a coup was repelled that night. At the same time, an invasion attempt was stopped. The goal was not only to change the government. The goal was to surrender the will of the Republic of Turkey."
Reminding that Türkiye was tested in the past with coups such as May 27, March 12, September 12 and February 28, Yalçın said that although different methods were used in different periods, the constant element was targeting the will of the nation. "Every initiative that came to terms with the will of the nation actually targeted Türkiye's claim to full independence. Because if national sovereignty weakens, independence also weakens," said Yalçın, adding that the coups were not only aimed at governments, but directly at the nation's right to sovereignty.
Stating that the nation took a historic stance against the coup plotters on the night of July 15, Yalçın stated that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's call to take to the squares was a critical turning point. Yalçın said, "Our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's call 'I invite our nation to the squares and airports' was a turning point that changed the course of history. Millions heeded this call, took to the streets, filled the squares and shielded their chests against the coup plotters."
Stating that FETO has infiltrated the state institutions for years under the guise of education and service, Yalçın stated that the organization uses public resources for its own hierarchy, not for the state. Yalçın said, "The occupations of the new era do not just start from the border. First, minds are wanted to be invaded. Then institutions. Then the law. Then the memory of the state. FETO did exactly this. For years, it hid itself under the guise of education, aid and service. It used the state's resources not for the state, but for its own hierarchy. It did not put merit before loyalty, but organizational loyalty before merit. It saw public duty not as a service to the nation, but as a means of achieving the goals of the organization. On the night of July 15, for years. "He revealed his true face, which he was hiding, with his tank, his plane, his gun and the barrel he pointed at his own nation," he said.
Yalçın stated that defining FETO only as an armed terrorist organization would be inadequate and said, "FETO is a global treason network that exploits this nation's faith, instrumentalizes its values, seizes the state's resources and directs them towards the nation. A structure that fires bullets at its own nation and bombs its own Parliament is no longer just treason. This is the darkest form of mankurtization."
"We went to the squares in the first hours of the coup"
Stating that Memur-Sen has been fighting against all kinds of tutelage since the day it was founded, Yalçın stated that they never saw unionism as just wage bargaining. Stating that they were in the squares with their organizations from the first moment on the night of July 15, Yalçın said, "We did not wait that night. We did not make calculations. We did not look at which way the wind would blow. In the first hours of the coup, we went out to the streets with all our managers and called our nation to the squares. The Memur-Sen family, from the Chairman to the workplace representative, were on the streets, in the squares, on duty."
Stating that they took part in democracy watches from the first day to the last day, Yalçın said, "Democracy cannot be won overnight; protecting it is as big a responsibility as winning it."
Noting that they have maintained the same sensitivity in the past 10 years, Yalçın said that they participate in the July 15 commemoration programs every year, do not forget the martyrs and stand by the veterans. Stating that they organize conferences, panels, exhibitions and commemoration programs in order to keep the memory of young generations alive, Yalçın said, "If the memory is not kept alive, betrayal will be forgotten; if betrayal is forgotten, tutelage will find strength again. Our struggle is not just a struggle to remind the past. Our struggle is a struggle to protect the future."
"National sovereignty is protected by strong institutions"
Emphasizing that the responsibility of July 15 should be transferred to the state administration and business life, Yalçın said, "National sovereignty is protected by strong institutions, and strong institutions are protected by merit, competence and public morality. We saw on July 15 what a disaster the understanding that surrenders state duty to organizational loyalty, personal interest or closed structures leads to." - ANKARA