On the night of July 15, crowds took to the streets all over Turkey, upon the call by the President they elected, to resist a bloody attempt to overthrow their democracy. On that fateful night, the Fethullah Gulenist Terror Organisation (FETO) apprehended the top commanders and ordered fighter aircraft, tanks and unsuspecting conscripts led by the brainwashed conspirators to attack the parliament and government. The people stood in front of the tanks. The FETO’s coup plotters responded by a killing frenzy, misusing the advanced weaponry entrusted to the mighty Turkish military in order to protect the motherland in a geography fraught with dangers. Over 200 citizens lost their lives. But the people were adamant. They stood their ground and defeated the terror unleashed upon them. The result was a night of valiance, martyrdom, heroism, and ultimately victory for democracy. The military top brass itself scrambled to defend democracy. The parliament united to condemn the coup. A week into the murderous coup attempt, with Turkish flags in their hands, people are still on the streets keeping vigil, chanting “this crimson Flag will never fade!” from their national anthem. Factories are running out of capacity to supply crimson flags to meet the demand. People’s peaceful resistance has kept Turkish democracy intact.
Good conscience, if not good foreign policy, should have compelled Turkey’s friends to rush in extending sympathy and appreciation and standing by Turkey as it embarked quickly on eliminating the threat within. Yet, rather than rejoicing with the heroistic defence of democracy, several foreign commentators and officials have rushed in to speculate an authoritarian turn. Some blamed the victim.
The Turkish people now demand the State to do its job and make sure that an episode like this never happens again. The FETO is run under strict hierarchy by a retired preacher who fakes a message of peace to disguise cold-hearted instructions to his followers to infiltrate and, when ready, strike and take over state power. This is all documented. The FETO’s massive infiltration carried out over three decades in deep secrecy must be cleansed, people demand. The job will not be easy, but it proceeds on work that was already underway. The coup attempt came at a time when the rogue elements would have been removed from the military in early August. Lists were already being drawn to identify and remove the members of FETO from the key positions they patiently and systematically came to occupy in the judiciary, civilian and military rank and file, the police, the media, academia and even in educational and business establishments. The coup revealed numbers exceeding even the most far-reaching estimates. People call for action and justice. The government pledges to do its job, but strictly under the rule of law.
For the Turkish nation, preservation of its democratic, secular, social state governed by the rule of law is more precious than anyone can fathom. Think of that young man who once overrun by a tank stood up only to be overrun by the second. One ought to give Turkey the benefit of the doubt and help by removing the vestiges of this stealthy network from the near 100 countries they have been able to take hold, fooling as they did everyone, including the people of Turkey by their deceitful tactics. The sad reality is that almost everyone around the world is living under the psychological burden of watching or experiencing wars, terror, economic woes, and civil strife. The world feels chaotic and in many ways it is. Yet as a nation sets an example, one can rejoice and give the benefit of the doubt to Turkey’s democratically accountable leadership, its parliament, prosecutors and judges.
Burak Akcapar is Turkish ambassador, professor and author
Follow him on Twitter @akcapar