Our President Abdurrahman Kaan released a written statement on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the July 15 Coup Attempt and of July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day.
In his statement, Kaan noted the following:
Despite the time that has passed, we STILL condemn the July 15 Coup Attempt, which 4 years ago was recorded in the history of the Republic of Türkiye as a mark of treachery and cruelty, with an anger as strong as at the moment the first sound of a tank was heard.
The Turkish Nation gave to this murder of democracy, experienced before the eyes of the world, a response of a nature that will be a lesson to the whole world, in the most valiant and courageous manner, and at the cost of its life displayed an example rarely encountered in history of standing up for its democracy, its homeland and its state.
On the night of July 15, our dear nation, with its young and its old, its women and its men, disregarding their own lives and placing the defence of the homeland above everything else, took to the streets and gave no passage to the coup plotters. This determination, resolve and love of homeland, which thwarted FETÖ's treacherous designs, is also the greatest guarantee that no one will ever dare such an uprising in these lands again.
The strong democratic struggle put forward by the Turkish people, even if it is not voiced, has, as we know, been inscribed on the pages of history as an example of togetherness envied and taken as a model by the whole world.
Our nation, which for centuries has displayed in these lands an example of solidarity far removed from distinctions of language, religion, race and gender, has with this sorrowful (treacherous) uprising once again proved the power of standing together against the attacks directed at our country by taking “the defence of the homeland” as its basis.
FETÖ members clustered at various levels of the state, primarily in the Turkish Armed Forces, have been purged as a result of the operations meticulously carried out by our state. We bear witness that our state's struggle in this field has continued with determination from the very first day without being interrupted in any way.
The Defence of the Homeland Is Not Made With So-Called Bombast
MÜSİAD, the world's most widespread and effective NGO, has always and under all circumstances taken a stance on the side of the national will and has stood without hesitation against every threat directed at it.
MÜSİAD, which set out its stance clearly, in a way that left no room for any doubt, when only hours had passed since the July 15 Coup Attempt, declared that it stood by its state and its nation. Again within a very short time, it worked with all its might, without hiding behind any excuse, to convey to the whole world and explain to the public the exemplary struggle waged against this treacherous uprising, the things wrongly known and the truths distorted by the hand of FETÖ, by demonstrating its prevalence and power with its 89 branches within Türkiye alongside 225 branches and representative offices in 95 countries. Because we know that the homeland is not defended with excuses!
As MÜSİAD, acting with the awareness that democracy is the lifeblood of a country, we take part in the struggle for democracy under all circumstances today as we did in the past.
We have never allowed, and will never allow, our country, founded with the blood of our martyrs and the sacrifice of our veterans, to be kept under threat by terrorist organizations hostile to democracy and to the people, or to be included in treacherous plans by foreign powers.
Although 4 years have passed, I commemorate with mercy our July 15 martyrs, whose pain remains fresh in our hearts and whom we will never forget, nor will we permit them to be forgotten, and I offer my gratitude to our veterans. On the anniversary of the epic our nation wrote, I congratulate our July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day.
Abdurrahman KAAN
MÜSİAD President