A Big Victory for Turkish Democracy


On the night of July 15, coup plotters committed atrocities beyond comprehension. Tanks ran over civilians, and ploughed into crowds of women and children as helicopters randomly fired at people and massacred them. Completely unarmed youngsters were martyred with machine guns. The Turkish Parliament, Police Forces, Special Operations Headquarters were among the buildings hit with airstrikes. This monstrosity will go down in history as an example of extreme treachery and atrocity that caused the martyrdom of 173 civilians.

 

We hope that the current civil movement by citizens of the Turkish Republic puts an end to the history of coup d’états in the Middle East. By exacting a toll on the streets, our people clearly showed that Turkey is no longer a country vulnerable to coup d’état. They clearly showed that they do not want to live in a country under the yoke of the junta. This military junta aimed the guns, that are entrusted to them by the state, at its own people. They betrayed this noble charge. On the night of July 15th, bullets were fired on unarmed people, not only from guns but also tanks and helicopters. The pro-coup soldiers ran over and crushed civilian people with tanks. It is impossible to even attempt to explain this blind rage. Each coup that has ever happened in Turkey was horrible and frightful. However, none of them reached such a level of cruelty as to target and kill the very people of this country.

The night of July 15th was a night that patriotic soldiers in the quarters as well as fearless police in the streets and in official buildings fought heroically. The biggest difference between the night of July 15th and other military coups in the world was that the people poured into the streets, risking their lives to support our police. The reason they took to the streets was not only to protest but also to hold the coup plotters off.

And that they did; many of the places the plotters had occupied were regained by the extraordinary bravery of the Turkish people. That night, the Turkish nation hit the streets, united, with Turkish, Kurdish, Cherkess, Albanian, and Arabic people all as one. The coup was protested all over the country. That night, each person, even those with a different opinion, vision and belief, were on the streets, fighting for democracy together.

A Chinese man shielding himself in front of unrelenting tanks in Tiananmen Square in China or President Yeltsin speaking to his people from atop a tank has been shown as the symbol for all things anti-coup for years.

On the night of July 15th, in the streets of the Turkish Republic, there were thousands lying down in front of the tanks, stepping up onto tanks, falling victim to the bullets of the coup plotter soldiers. At the air force bases occupied by pro-coup soldiers, the people took part in the struggle to prevent fighter jets from taking off. The largest civil loss happened as a result of these struggles. However, our nation was regained.

Hundreds of thousands protested the coup in the streets while developing their own defense techniques at the same time. In order to stop tanks, the streets were blocked with cars and trucks. Heavy construction equipment, street sweepers, garbage trucks and more were all pulled in front of the regular armies of the military unit. A grader operator blocked the exit of one of the main highways with his own vehicle in Istanbul. When he refused to move his vehicle, he was martyred by the pro-coup soldiers. The people placed big rocks into tank treads. In order to prevent coup aircraft from taking off, they placed fire trucks and bulldozers onto the airfield.

It wasn't the Turkish army that attempted to stage the coup in Turkey; it was a small group operating under the influence of the British deep state. Our army is a very sacred organization, and is the pride of our nation. Turkish soldiers would never point their guns at our people, or side with tyranny and coup plotters. Conscious of this fact, our people protected our soldiers on the night of the coup attempt with compassion.

The people used every possible means to stop the coup. When they had no other option, they did not refrain from using themselves as shields. In the morning, the horrible struggle ended to a large extent; 240 people fell martyr but pro-coup soldiers were silenced. Now, except a few occupied points, there are only Turkish people on the streets standing for the sake of democracy: the young, the old, men and women alike. This sentry duty still continues as of this moment.

This is characteristic of the Turkish people who own these lands. This event added yet another to the events of bravery of our history. As the Prime Minister said during his historic speech, all of us are proud to be individuals in such a brave nation.

 This event is a big victory for democracy, for soldiers and police who fought against coup plotters and also for civilian people. The Turkish people are right to feel proud of this sacrifice. Civilian society correctly claimed its right against guns. People did not surrender to the possibility of dying as a martyr.

A coup is an endeavor that is only undertaken by people with insidious and cruel characteristic. These kinds of people, as we saw on the night of July 15th, do not hesitate to massacre their own people in cold blood. For them, the lives lost in the massacre and the bodies crushed under those tanks have no value and importance. They are only out to become the leaders of an oppressive regime by killing democracy and inflicting cruelty to the public. This horrible mindset has always hurt the nation and democracy. Knowing the cruel characteristics of a coup very well, the Turkish nation made such great history on the night of July 15th, risking their own lives. No bully can have the power to take from us the democracy that God granted us.

 


DEVAMINI GÖSTER

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