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TURKEY-POLITICS-COUP
Turkey marks second coup anniversary
ANKARA, July 15, 2018 (AFP) – Turkey on Sunday commemorated the second
anniversary of a bloody coup attempt which was followed by a series of purges
in the public sector and changes to boost President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
powers.
Two hundred and forty eight people were killed and over 2,000 were wounded
after a rogue military faction tried to overthrow Erdogan on July 15, 2016.
The attempted coup was blamed by Ankara on US-based Muslim preacher
Fethullah Gulen, a former ally turned foe of Erdogan. Gulen denies the
claims.
In a series of events, Erdogan took part in a religious ceremony in an
Ankara mosque before he hosted a lunch with martyrs’ families and those
wounded at the presidential palace.
July 15 is now a national holiday and Erdogan promised during the lunch
that “we will not let it be forgotten and we will not forget it”.
Erdogan will at 1800 GMT address citizens on the bridge across the
Bosphorus in Istanbul — now renamed the July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge — which was
the scene of bloody fighting between Erdogan’s supporters and renegade
soldiers.
Ankara municipality organised a rally in the renamed July 15 Kizilay
National Will Square due to start at 1800 GMT, the same place where thousands
gathered nightly for a month after the coup attempt.
Dozens of life sentences have been handed down against the putschists
while hundreds more court cases continue across Turkey against alleged coup-
plotters.
The government said earlier this year that over 77,000 people have been
arrested over suspected links to Gulen.
Tens of thousands have also been dismissed or suspended from the public
sector over alleged Gulen ties, including judges and soldiers, in a crackdown
criticised by Turkey’s Western allies and human rights activists.
Turkey has been under a state of emergency since July 20, 2016 but
Erdogan’s spokesman this week said it would be lifted on Wednesday.
Erdogan vowed that the fight against the “Fethullah Terrorist
Organisation” (FETO), Ankara’s name for the Gulen movement which it calls a
“virus”, would continue.
“We will find and remove them from all the cells they have entered,” he
said.
The anniversary comes after Erdogan won outright in June 24 presidential
elections. After the polls, constitutional reforms to create an executive
presidency came into force giving Erdogan sweeping powers.
Erdogan issued seven decrees early Sunday to reshape several public
institutions. The Armed Forces General Staff is now under the authority of
the defence minister while the Supreme Military Council (YAS) — which
decides on senior military appointments and strategic priorities — has been
restructured.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1929 hrs