SELA WILL BE READ IN ALL MOSQUES

Within the scope of the programs to be carried out under the coordination of the General Directorate of Religious Services, Hatm-i Sharif for the martyrs of July 15 will be recited in all mosques and sela will be recited simultaneously in all mosques at 00.13 on the night connecting July 15 to July 16.

“OUR WILL IS OURS VICTORY” PROGRAM FROM THE DIRECTORATE OF COMMUNICATIONS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY

According to the statement made by the Presidency, in addition to the main events in Ankara and Istanbul, the nation’s struggle for democracy will be brought together with citizens in different venues with photo exhibitions, digital experience areas, commemorative marches, visual shows and memory projects. The center of the commemoration programs will be the Capital National Garden on July 15. In the program, which will be organized under the auspices of the Presidency and expected to be attended by approximately 20 thousand people, the determination of the nation against the treacherous coup attempt and the will to defend the national will will be strongly emphasized once again. During the events, the beloved martyrs will be remembered with mercy, the gratitude towards the veterans will be expressed, and the common memory will be kept alive with the events prepared to commemorate the tenth anniversary. Within the scope of the train wrapping work with the theme of “Our Will, Our Victory”, which is one of the projects to be implemented in this context, 10 trains prepared in cooperation with the Directorate of Communications and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure will travel on different routes of Türkiye throughout the week. Thus, millions of passengers will encounter visuals telling the epic of democracy and the message of national unity throughout their journey. Prepared within the scope of the commemoration programs, “Memory and Remembrance: July 15 Photography Exhibition” will host its visitors today at Esenboğa, Istanbul, Sabiha Gökçen, İzmir Adnan Menderes, Antalya and Gaziantep airports. The exhibition, prepared in cooperation with the Presidential Directorate of Communications and the 15 July Association, will include photographs reflecting the nation’s resistance against the coup attempt and its struggle for democracy. Memory projects to be carried out in Istanbul will also offer different experiences to visitors. The Silent Witness Installation opened in Üsküdar Square will keep the memory of 253 martyrs alive. In the area where a Turkish flag will be placed on behalf of each martyr, their name, date of birth and hometown information will be included. The installation aims to convey the sacrifice made by the nation to future generations.

“OUR WILL, VICTORY IS OURS” DIGITAL TIME TUNNEL WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN KIZILAY SQUARE

The Memory Tree Experience Area, which will be established in Üsküdar and Taksim squares on July 15, will offer visitors an interactive memory experience. Citizens will be able to share their feelings, thoughts and messages about the martyrs through touch screens, and all transmitted messages will be brought together in a common digital memory. Thus, visitors will become active participants who not only watch the commemoration programs but also contribute to the formation of social memory. The “The Will is Ours, the Victory is Ours” digital timeline, which will be established in the capital, can be visited in Kızılay Square on 15-16 July. The experience area, prepared with sound, light and digital technologies, will convey to visitors the process from the first moments of the coup attempt to the victory of the national will, while also revealing the developments Türkiye has made in the field of defense industry and technology in the last 10 years. July 15 Martyrs Bridge, one of the symbolic places of the struggle for democracy, will be one of the important stops of the commemoration programs this year. The Democracy and Martyrs’ Commemoration March, which will be held on July 15 at 10:00, will start from Zincirlikuyu with the participation of approximately 5 thousand people and end at the July 15 Martyrs Bridge Martyrdom.

“THE MOST CRITICAL THRESHOLD OF OUR HISTORY”

Sabah Newspaper Ankara Representative Okan Müderrisoğlu also emphasized that some nights are engraved in the memory of nations, and July 15 is one of these nights.

Emphasizing the importance of July 15, Müderrisoğlu said, “Members of different ages and generations of this nation, who prepared for coups in one way or another, remained silent, stood aside, and then did serious soul-searching, on the night of July 15, the leadership of the President and the trust in him, resisted with their lives those who aimed at the country, an invasion attempt, and national unity and integrity, and helped to cross the most critical threshold in our history of democracy, in my opinion, irreversibly.” he said.

Müderrisoğlu drew attention to the importance of the democracy watches held after July 15 in order to protect democracy.

Müderrisoğlu said that FETO and similar structures are “living organisms”.

Noting that FETO is trying to keep itself alive and re-exist, Müderrisoğlu stated that the terrorist organization is trying to find financial resources through companies established by those who escaped abroad or through different solidarity mechanisms and transfer them to its organizers.

“THE EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON JULY 15 SHOW THAT IT WAS AN ATTACK ON Türkiye”

AÜ Faculty of Political Sciences Lecturer Assoc. Dr. Ozan Zengin also stated that “July 15” was a day of victory that was eliminated by the state administrators and the nation under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Zengin stated that the coups were an attempt to overthrow those in power, and underlined that in a sense, they were the suspension of the nation’s right to sovereignty by force of arms.

Zengin pointed out that what happened on the night of July 15, 2016 differed from the military interventions that Türkiye had encountered before in some aspects, and stated that this coup attempt was not a classic coup attempt that arose only within the military.

Zengin concluded his words as follows:

“It is an attempt by a parallel structure organized outside the constitutional hierarchy, which has penetrated the state institutions through different methods for many years, to take over the state administration by using armed force. In this respect, July 15 is not only a serious attack on the constitutional order, but also a historical point that reminds us of the importance of merit, transparency, accountability, democratic and legal control in state institutions. What happened on the night of July 15, the bombing of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the targeting of security institutions and the armed attacks on citizens, indicate that the incident was only a change of government.” It shows that there is no attempt and that it is an attack against the state and the Republic of Türkiye itself.

However, the call made by Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the public on the same night, the fact that the Turkish Grand National Assembly continued its work, the political parties took a common stance against the coup attempt, the security forces defended the constitutional order, and many citizens took to the streets to defend democracy, showed that democratic legitimacy is embraced by large segments of society, as well as state institutions.”

The teacher and poet brother of police officer Hurşit Uzel, who was martyred in the bomb attack on Gölbaşı Special Operations Department, broke hearts with the letter he wrote on the 10th anniversary of his brother’s martyrdom. Hüseyin Uzel, the teacher and poet brother of police officer Hurşit Uzel, who was martyred for the sake of the country in the Gölbaşı Special Operations Department, which was bombed in the treacherous coup attempt of FETO, explained both the indescribable pain his family experienced and the traces left behind by a hero in the letter he wrote for his brother. Stating that his brother’s friends, who were transferred from Batman to Konya, were martyred in a terrorist attack 3 days later, Hüseyin Uzel said in his letter, “You said you missed the martyrdom by three days. No, brother… My Lord was saving you for another day. The fateful night of the country. That night when tanks took to the streets and war planes bombed his own nation. In other words, he was saving it for July 15.”

‘YOU ARE IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE’
In the letter, Hüseyin Uzel stated that Hurşit Uzel said, “Don’t cry, mother. Martyrdom is not a position to be sad about. If I were given martyrdom today, I would accept it without hesitation” after his mother cried over the news of a martyr he watched on television. “We were able to contact in the first hours of the night of July 15. However, we did not receive any news afterwards. The phones were unanswered. ‘My beautiful brother, where are you?’ I texted. There was no answer. It came into me. I said, ‘You are in the most beautiful place.’ “Then, with the sad news, we learned that my brother was martyred,” he said.

The National Intelligence Organization (MİT) caught Talip Güler, codenamed “Abdüsselam Türki”, who was operating on behalf of the terrorist organization DAESH and wanted with a yellow notice, and brought him to Türkiye in an operation. As a result of the work carried out by MİT, it was determined that Talip Güler, who was wanted with a yellow notice, crossed into Syria illegally in January 2014. Talip Güler, who was found to be the brother of Kasım Güler, who was caught and brought to Türkiye in 2021 and operates as the so-called “Turkey province responsible” of DAESH and the so-called financial officer of the DAESH/Faruk Office, was found to be carrying out his activities in Syria in contact with the organization’s leaders, especially his brother Kasım Güler. In the statement of Talip Güler, who was followed step by step after Kasım Güler was caught and brought to Türkiye; It was learned that he made a detailed confession regarding his radicalization process in Türkiye, his illegal passage to Syria, his participation in DAESH, and the activities he carried out within DAESH with his older brother Kasım Güler. With these studies carried out by MİT; It has been reported that efforts are being made to prevent the terrorist organization DAESH’s action plans against Türkiye, to reveal the recruitment of DAESH elements, and to capture the action plans.

The Republic of Türkiye was subjected to one of the bloodiest treason attempts in its history on July 15, 2016. However, that night, not only a coup attempt was suppressed; At the same time, it has been proven to the whole world that love of the country is a legacy that lasts for generations. One of the most concrete examples of this legacy was the sons of Special Operations Director Ali Er, who was martyred in Hakkari on July 14, 1992. Martyr Special Operations Branch Manager Ali Er was Türkiye’s first martyr Special Operations Police Chief and one of the founders of the organization. Ali Er, who was Süleyman Demirel’s close guard for 9 years, was martyred in the treacherous ambush set up by terrorists on July 14, 1992, at the Başkale Güzeldere pass on the Van-Hakkari highway. After their father’s martyrdom, all three of his sons chose police as a profession. Years after their father’s martyrdom, Ali Er’s two sons, Eraslan and Volkan Er, who are the Chief of Police, were in the square on the night of July 15, on different fronts but for the same purpose. While Volkan Er, who was on the staff of Ankara Police Department, became a veteran of the conflict with the coup plotters in the Ankara Police Department campus that night, Eraslan Er, who was the Special Operations Branch Manager of Ankara Police Department at that time, was at the head of the team that dispersed the focus of betrayal in Beştepe.

THE CENTER OF BETRAYAL IN BEŞTEPE: GENERAL COMMAND OF THE GENDARMERIE

One of the most critical targets of the coup attempt was the Gendarmerie General Command headquarters in Beştepe. Former colonel Erkan Öktem and the coup plotters with him occupied the headquarters and took the senior officers of the period hostage. That night, Turgut Aslan, then TEM Department Head, was detained by the traitors along with his bodyguards.

“HE WAS A MARTYR, BUT HE LEAVED BRAVE CHILDREN TO THE COUNTRY”

During the operation launched by the Special Operations teams to take back the headquarters, Eraslan Er, then Ankara Special Operations Branch Director, managed to enter the building with his team at the first light of the morning. Search and rescue teams found Turgut Aslan and his bodyguard Hasan Gülhan, shot in the head, in the outbuilding of the building. Turgut Aslan, whose bodyguard was martyred, was still alive. Eraslan Er cleaned the blood on Aslan’s face, checked his pulse, and rushed him to the ambulance accompanied by shields. The most striking aspect of this rescue operation was expressed by Turgut Aslan himself years later: Eraslan Er, the head of the team that saved Aslan, was the son of Aslan’s comrade-in-arms Ali Er, who was martyred in 1992. In his post on the death anniversary of martyr Ali Er, Turgut Aslan said, “Today is the martyrdom anniversary of my friend, Special Operations Director, Ali Er, who was martyred in Hakkari in 1992. By God’s will, his son, Special Operations Director Eraslan Er, was at the head of the team that found and saved me on July 16, 2016. Another son, Volkan Er, became a veteran on July 15. He was martyred, but this is the case for the country.” “He left brave sons,” he said.

“YOU CAN’T CARRY THAT GLORIOUS UNIFORM!”

Later in the operation, when the coup plotters began to surrender, an unforgettable image occurred. Eraslan Er, head of the Police Special Operations, and Gendarmerie Special Operations Teams under the control of Gendarmerie Brigadier General Ahmet Hacıoğlu, who fought against the coup plotters, stripped the clothes of the traitors who used the glorious uniform of the Turkish army for the purposes of the terrorist organization. The coup plotters were stripped of their uniforms in the headquarters garden and made to kneel before the justice of the Turkish nation.

RADIO RECORDINGS: “FREE FIRE TO CITIZENS”

Wireless recordings included in the case files once again revealed the ruthlessness of the traitors. It was determined that Erkan Öktem, who managed the headquarters, gave instructions to the helicopter pilots and the coup plotters inside, such as “shoot the police vehicles”, “do not approach civilians”, “they are the target, shooting is free”. The order to target the police and citizens especially around the Hisarcıklıoğlu Mosque showed the extent of treason. After the headquarters was surrounded by the police, Öktem requested air attack support from the coup plotters in the Land Aviation Command and asked the helicopter pilot to destroy especially the armored police vehicles.

İŞTEO BETRAYAL CONVERSATIONS

Helicopter pilot: There is a small mosque among the tall buildings, it is called Hisarcıklıoğlu Mosque. There’s a police car here, west of the building, right below us.
Öktem: Whether he gets shot or not, he is the one who causes the most trouble.
Öktem: That is Hisarcıklıoğlu Mosque, all police vehicles around it should be shot.
Öktem: Cobra, gendarmerie.
Helicopter pilot: I’m listening.
Öktem: There are constructions around the mosque, they (police) are hiding there. Armored vehicles should be shot, please.
Helicopter pilot: Cobra, gendarmerie.
Helicopter pilot: Agreed.
Öktem: Understood, understood. There is a police armored car in the underpass. If you can see it, shoot it.
Helicopter pilot: The armored vehicle is right below us. Look, there are armored vehicles next to the mosque.
Öktem: The armored men next to the mosque should be shot.

JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE, PROPAGANDA HAS COLLAPSED

Over the years, the judicial process was completed and 86 defendants, including Erkan Öktem, were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order”. Even though FETO’s media imams, who escaped when the coup failed, engaged in black propaganda activities targeting Eraslan Er and other heroes on social media, the facts remained clear as day. The images of Turgut Aslan being led to execution with his hands tied also refuted the organization’s lies that “we did not do it”. On the 10th anniversary of July 15, Turkey once again declares its commitment to democracy to the whole world, thanks to the children who carry the legacy of martyrs like Ali Er on their shoulders and the veterans who stand tall like Turgut Aslan.

The AK Party is taking an important step to prevent murders such as Ahmet Minguzzi and Atlas Çağlayan, which caused great outrage in the public, and to avoid creating a “perception of impunity” in society. The regulation that changes the punishment and execution system for children who commit crimes is expected to be presented to the Speaker of the Parliament today. AK Party Group Deputy Chairman Leyla Şahin Usta will hold a press conference today. The Master will give information about the proposal they will submit to the Speaker of the Parliament, which includes regulations regarding juvenile criminals under the age of 18.

DIGITAL TRACKING SYSTEM
Within the scope of the proposal, it is planned to introduce a gradual punishment and execution system according to crimes committed under the age of 18 in order to prevent children from being used by gangs and dragged into crime. The proposal envisages that children who commit crimes will be taken to juvenile education homes, not directly but after serving a certain amount of punishment. It is also emphasized that, as in England, a “digital tracking system” will be introduced for children who are released from prison or who have received unpaid sentences, and that they will prevent them from committing crimes in the digital environment. The suggestions here were also used while preparing the proposal.