Minister of FAMILY and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş said, "10 years have not let us forget that night. Since then, our nation has always kept the spirit of July 15 alive with its foresight and wisdom. Behind this spirit was the courage of our 253 martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the sake of the country."
A commemoration program was organized by the Turkish Veterans and Martyrs' Families Foundation at the Keçiören 15 July Monument within the scope of the 15 July Democracy and National Unity Day Activities. To the program; Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, General Directorate of Security Special Operations Head Ünsal Hayal, Grand Unity Party (BBP) Chairman Mustafa Destici, Keçiören Mayor Mesut Özarslan, Turkish Veterans and Martyrs Families Foundation Chairman Lokman Aylar attended. In the program, marches were played and the Holy Quran was recited by the Mehteran band. Speaking later in the program, Minister Göktaş said, "We are here on the 10th anniversary of the treacherous coup attempt of FETO, the betrayal network that targeted the children of this country and the future of this nation. We are here to keep alive the cherished memory of the hearts that brought them to the dawn of that dark night, and the hands that wrote the heroic epic at the expense of their lives. We have not forgotten our heroes who stood up for their will in the squares on July 15 and shielded their chests against tanks and bullets. We will never forget. 15 "We cannot see July as just one of the pages of our glorious history. There is no doubt that July 15 is an epic of heroism in itself. Those who set their sights on the independence and future of our country and those who harbored covert ambitions did not take anything into account that night. Those who made these lands our homeland left us a legacy of resistance and resurrection," he said.
Stating that the effects of July 15 echoed all over the world, Minister Göktaş said, "We wrote an unprecedented epic of resistance in Türkiye. You wrote it. Our heroic veterans wrote it. The families of our martyrs wrote it. Our dear martyrs wrote it. As our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, 'The trap set by the FETO leader was destroyed on the night of July 15th by our nation's upright stance, brave stance and heroic resistance.' On this occasion, I hope that the 15th of July Democracy and National Unity Day will be a blessing. I express my gratitude to our heroic veterans who marched to martyrdom without even blinking their eyes. I wish a healthy and peaceful long life to the families of our martyrs. 10 years have not forgotten that night since then. With his wisdom, the spirit of July 15 was always kept alive. Behind this spirit was the courage of our 2,737 heroes who reached the rank of veteran. It is our duty to keep their memory alive. That is why they protected our will of independence, our history of democracy, and the future of our Turkey. "We must engrave it in our memories, engrave it in the hearts of our children, and move forward into the future with this spirit," he said.
Minister Göktaş stated that, as the ministry, they are working to make this understanding prevalent all over Türkiye, and said, "We are expanding our social services that will increase the welfare of our martyrs' relatives and veterans. In this context, we carry out home visits in 81 provinces. We see it as a national responsibility to show our loyalty to our martyrs' families and veterans. We remember them not just on a day like some of them, we always remember them, we are always with them. I also condemn those who make this process an opportunity. The pain of our dear martyrs and veterans We see and know those who are making political recruitment through it. This nation also knows it, this nation sees it. We will never give them the opportunity. We have always stood by our martyrs' relatives and veterans under the leadership of our President, as we did yesterday, and we promised, and we will continue to stand by them. Because we, as the Ministry, know it as a national responsibility to show our loyalty to our martyrs' families and veterans. "We are bringing our martyrs' families and veterans together with our youth, who are the guarantee of our future. In this way, we are building new bridges of hearts. We will continue to develop our services for our martyrs' relatives and veterans with new policies and activities in line with our vision of the Decade of Family and Population. We will build a future where a climate of brotherhood is experienced in every corner, in line with our goal of 'Terrorism-Free Turkey'."