The morning of the post-July 15 Trauma

By Volkan ŞAHİNKAYA

July 16, 2016, around 09:30 a.m. I woke up suddenly in stress. I must have fallen asleep on my sofa on the night from July 15 to 16. I immediately checked my iPad on the table. And thank God surrendered putschist soldiers on the Bosphorus Bridge marked the victory of the Turkish people.

On that night, the militants of Fetullahist Terrorist Organisation (FETO) through its followers within the Armed Forces bombed many public buildings including the Parliament and Presidential Complex, fired at innocent civilians and attempted to assassinate the President and Prime Minister. Indeed, it was not a mere terrorist coup plot, but also an attempt in vain to prepare the ground for a civil war in Turkey.

The coup perpetrator FETO is a secretive cult which promotes the perverted religious ideology of Fetullah Gülen, who distorts Islam by claiming to be the "Imam of the Universe" and places himself above the Prophet.

FETO disciples infiltrated into and spread over all the Turkish state organs clandestinely like a cancer, so as to ultimately replace the constitutional order with a fundamentalist dictatorship. Therefore, it is a new generation terrorist organisation.

The coup plot was thwarted thanks to the heroic resistance of the patriotic Turkish nation. Obviously, they gave an unprecedented democracy lesson to the whole world. One of them even threw a broom to a flying F-16 fighter jet hijacked by FETO, with the same resolve displayed by the ant who was carrying a drop of water to extinguish the great fire lit to burn Prophet Abraham.

The world has to understand that no matter what kind of a regime change is plotted against Turkey from outside, the brave Turkish nation will never allow this to happen. That's why 250 innocent people gave up their lives on July 15 last year and why at least 10 million Turkish people from different political views came together in the August 7 democracy rally.

By declaring a state of emergency, the Government started to take resolute steps to eradicate the parallel state structure of FETO, which posed an existential threat to the Turkish state and nation. Concrete evidences such as the testimonies of the coup plotters, usage exclusively by the FETO militants of an encyrpted communication application called "ByLock" for their illegal activities, and the relevant CCTV footages, affirm that FETO was behind the coup plot. Based on the above evidence, thousands of traitors were dismissed from public service and also, FETO-affiliated entities were shut down.

Currently there are 78 ongoing court cases in 23 different provinces, with regard to the coup perpetrators and their civilian orchestrators and supporters from all walks of life. While fighting against even such a sheerly brutal terrorist organisation, Turkey acts in full conformity with the constitution and its international obligations. With a view to ensuring the rule of law and justice, the Government of Turkey has recently established an Inquiry Commission, in accordance with the recommendation of the Council of Europe, which will review the measures taken during the state of emergency. So far, over 300 institutions that were shut down were reopened, and 30,000 public employees have already been reinstated through various administrative boards of review.

On the other hand, the attitude of some allies and partners as well as of some so-called independent mainstream global media outlets which depicted the events during the coup attempt falsely and inaccurately, was frustrating.

Such international actors, instead of showing their solidarity with Turkey, have been criticising the fair and necessary measures taken by Turkey, and have even gone so far as to  provide  safe haven for many wanted putschists affiliated to FETO. In fact, FETO has been cooperating with other bloody terrorist organisations such as PKK and DAESH which also target Turkey, in order to undermine Turkey's fight against terrorism by systematically leaking top state secrets. There is a global mastermind behind that coup attempt which aims to destabilise Turkey, but is nevertheless doomed to fail.

Being a global crime and terrorist network, FETO also poses imminent security risks for all the countries harbouring its offshoots in the form of schools, associations, hospitals. Many countries and some international organisations have already taken necessary measures against this terrorist organisation. Around 22 African countries, most recently Burundi, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, have decided to ban FETO-linked entities, and many more will follow suit. I hope that Uganda will be among them.

Otherwise, it is likely that FETO-indoctrinated Ugandans who call terrorist Gülen "grandfather" will betray their real grandfathers who gifted them the Pearl of Africa. Some Ugandans who were in contact with FETO in Uganda in the past have recently confessed that their FETO comrades several months in advance had alluded to the coup taking place in Turkey. Thus, we advise our Ugandan friends to be vigilant against FETO's aspirations in this country and its immoral initiatives to influence and mislead the Ugandan authorities.

Today, we are commemorating the first anniversary of the thwarted heinous coup attempt of July 15, 2016. We are grateful to all our martyrs and veterans for their unprecedented sacrifices.

However, it is a matter of concern for us that unless swift action is taken against FETO establishments, some friendly and brotherly peoples in time will go through the same ordeals as Turkey, yet who might not be lucky enough to wake up to a  bright July 16 morning."

The writer is the Deputy Head of Mission Turkish Embassy in Kampala