15th July Commemoration

(15 July 2021, 11:00)

On the occasion of the “15 July Democracy and National Unity Day” in
Turkey, we come together to commemorate our beloved Martyrs and the heroic
defence of the Turkish Nation shown not to desist from democracy and
constitutional order. I would like to highlight some aspects of that darkest
period of Turkey.

July 15, 2021 marks the fifth years of the Turkey’s democratic
institutions being attacked by the Fetullah Gülen Terrorist Organization
(FETÖ). Five years have passed since the attempt to stage a coup in Turkey, in the
evening of 15 July 2016. This coup attempt had been terrorist campaign to overthrow the constitutional order of
Turkey and the democratically elected President and the government.

At that night, the Turkish people from all backgrounds and political
views, the command chain and the vast majority of the Turkish Armed Forces and
Turkish Police defended Turkish democracy against the plotters. They stood
bravely in front of the tanks, displayed a historic solidarity and reclaimed
their democratic rights. What was observed that night was the
victory of democracy.

In the light of these, 15^th of July was designated as one of the
national memorial days of Turkey under the name of “Democracy and National
Unity Day”.

A few moments ago, you watched documentary film which tells
about the bloody face and insidious plans of the said terrorist organization. The perpetrators of this hideous undertaking consisted
of the disciples of Fetullah Gülen, the man who calls himself “Imam of the
Universe”. They are the part of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, called as
FETÖ. It is a new generation terrorist organization based on hypocrisy,
concealment and secrecy.

15 July was the most brutal attack of FETO against the
Turkish Nation and the Turkish State. To judge the deeds of this man and his
organization only with what transpired on July 15th would be a mistake. Their
history is loaded with many other crimes. All the evidence collected so
far throughout the investigations and trials demonstrates that the bloodiest
terrorist attack in the history of Turkey was orchestrated by FETOunder the instructions of
Fetullah Gülen.

They abused their positions and power
in the state to destroy anyone who would stand in their way through very dirty
tactics. Their deeds include cheating at the public examinations, racketeering,
extortion, blackmail, wiretapping, orchestrating sham trials, fabricating
evidence, and even murder.

FETÖ threatened the integrity of the Turkish State and the Turkish democracy with the very sophisticated concealment
methods. Whereas other terrorists strike at the state from outside, FETÖ
penetrated the state from inside and aimed at taking control of military,
police, judiciary, revenue agencies, and even the Foreign Ministry, among
others.

If we look back, we see that their activities were
started under the guise of a charitable education effort. The kids were put
through school with financial support and mainly a heavy hand in
indoctrination. By the time most of them unfortunately turned into
unquestioning foot soldiers of Fetullah Gülen. As civil servants or military
personnel who were under their patronage, their loyalty was not to the Turkish
Nation or to the Turkish State they served.FETOis a unique and peculiar armed
terrorist organisation where its lower level members know each other by their
code names and which has a "cell-type" structure.

As the organization grew stronger and
became more affluent, it started meddling in business transactions. Financing
was taken care of by holding companies and donations from business people.

The organization established media
houses to shape the public opinion. These media houses became focal points of
actions taken against journalists, academicians, bureaucrats and military
officers who opposed them, or tried to expose them. They were socially lynched
and purged.

FETÖ established itself in around 160
countries, with thousands of schools and businesses. After July 15, 2016, their
actions in Turkey should be considered as a wake-up call for other countries to
be aware of the security threat posed by FETÖ.

At
the beginning of my speech, I mentioned that Turkish Nation heroically defended
Turkish democracy. In fact, Turkish democracy goes long way back to the Ottoman
Empire period. Declaration of the Constitution and the opening of Parliament
dated back to 1876. Republic of Turkey founded in 1923 by the Turkish Grand National
Assembly which was representing the Turkish Nation.

The founder of our
Republic, the greatest leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s proverb of “sovereignty
rests unconditionally and unrestrictedly with the Nation” is symbolizes the
consciousness of democracy in Turkey. For us, the will of the Nation is above
everything. Whatever is being done in Turkey in areas such
as defense, energy, infrastructure, education, health, defense, technology,
space, aviation and foreign diplomacy, all these are for the liberty, prosperity
and happiness of our Nation, especially for the future of our children.

Today,
we commemorate our all beloved martyrs who sacrificed their lives for Turkish
democracy and the constitutional order of Turkey. We will never forget our martyrs
and veterans.

Thank
you.