We will not allow July 15 to be forgotten, nor will we forget: Erdoğan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed veterans and the families of martyrs at a ceremony hosted at the Presidential Complex to mark July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day. Turkey marks the second anniversary of the defeated coup attempt, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, on Sunday.

“We have more opportunities to repay our debt to our martyrs. We look to our future with much more hope than we did yesterday,” Erdoğan said.

“We will not allow July 15 to be forgotten, nor will we forget. The gravity of the struggle that our nation gave for its independence and future will be better understood over time,” he added.

The president hailed the courage of the Turkish public who repelled the putsch by pouring onto the streets following Erdoğan’s call to resist.

“Attempts by some to diminish July 15’s importance is a manifestation of the hatred they nurture toward our nation and our people,” Erdoğan said.

“Those who want to uncover the secret of our people’s heroism demonstrated on the night of July 15 should look to our great struggle which has spanned centuries. Our people are tired of losing what they gained on the field, with their blood, to word games, diplomacy traps, heedlessness and even betrayal. We will not lose!” he added.

Later in the evening, Erdoğan will attend a rally at Istanbul’s July 15 Martyrs Bridge to mark the second anniversary of the failed coup attempt.

“This year, Turkey neutralized close to 1,400 terrorists domestically and in northern Iraq. Approximately 4,600 PKK and PYD terrorists were neutralized in Operation Olive Branch,” Erdoğan said.

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on January 20 in Syria’s northwestern Afrin region. The aim of the operation is to establish security and stability along Turkish borders and the region as well as to eliminate PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Daesh terror groups, and protect the Syrian people from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.

The YPG is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

“The only target of terror groups like FETÖ, PKK and Daesh is our nation’s unity. I will not end with FETÖ. We will find them everywhere they hide. There is no stopping,” the president added.