Abdurrahman Kaan, President of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD), released a written statement on the occasion of July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day. Saying in his statement, "We will not let July 15 or the treachery committed be forgotten", President Kaan emphasized the importance of the struggle that was put forward.

President Kaan made the following statements in his message:

July 15, 2016 is, for every Turkish citizen, the glorious history of the struggle we put forward as a manifestation of the fact that as a nation we thwarted a treacherous attempt aimed at writing a black page for our country, and that we hold freedom, love of homeland, democracy and national honour above all else.

On that dark night when everyone, old and young, women and men, stood against the traitors who murdered democracy with great fury, our nation once again showed the whole world its passion for democracy and gave a lesson in unity and solidarity.
As MÜSİAD, we too demonstrated our reaction immediately after the coup attempt, and while many NGOs were still busy taking the pulse, we clearly expressed our stance against this treacherous uprising that evening and fought against the coup plotters in the squares.

At every point where we are present at home and abroad, we recounted the treachery our nation faced. We expressed the true nature of the injustice, the conspiracy and the destructive plans as loudly as we could, and we worked with all our strength to form public opinion around the world in this direction.

All our branches and representatives at 89 points at home and at 225 points in 95 countries abroad also actively supported these efforts through their own endeavours. In all the countries where we are present, we are carrying out communication activities to explain what happened that night to the public accurately and clearly.

On the other hand, in order to convey the night of July 15 and what followed to future generations, we created content and prepared books and informative publications.

The book “July 15 in the Western Media”, prepared by our MÜSİAD USA Branch and setting out the perspective of the West, and our book “Who Can Stop Us”, which explains the coup attempt simply and effectively in a way our children can understand and which was published by Erdem Yayınları with MÜSİAD’s support, are some of these.

In addition, in the supplementary works of our MÜSİAD Çerçeve magazine, we gave place to detailed news reports, analyses and studies examining the coup attempt in all its aspects and setting out our stance as MÜSİAD.

Besides these, in order to develop our close cooperation with the July 15 Association and to be able to implement joint work together, we signed a cooperation protocol and are organizing joint programs.

Throughout this whole process, our Young MÜSİAD and MÜSİAD WOMEN organizations have also taken part, and we are carrying out awareness activities aimed at the young people and women within the business world.

We Will Not Forget July 15 or the Treachery Committed, Nor Will We Let Them Be Forgotten

The strong struggle for democracy that the Turkish people displayed on the night of July 15, even if it is not voiced, has, as we know, been inscribed on the pages of history as an example of solidarity envied and taken as a model by the whole world.

The FETÖ members clustered at various levels of the state, above all in the Turkish Armed Forces, are being purged as a result of the operations our state is carrying out meticulously. We are witnessing that our state’s struggle in this field has continued with determination without being interrupted in any way from the very first day.

May God never again make us live through such treacherous attempts, sorrowful days and nights organized by dirty hands in this heavenly homeland of ours. We will not forget the cruelty experienced that night or the treacherous coup attempt, nor will we let them be forgotten.

On this occasion, I pray for God’s mercy upon our martyrs who took to the squares putting their lives on the line on July 15 and defended the homeland, and I offer my gratitude to our veterans who will carry the sorrowful marks of that night on their bodies throughout their lives and to every one of our brothers and sisters who took to the streets for their homeland without hesitating for a moment and without hiding behind any excuse.

On the anniversary of the epic our nation has written, I congratulate our July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day.