President Erdoğan: Soulless and dishonorable creatures who betray the nation and the state: 10th anniversary of July 15

AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan spoke at the "July 15 at its 10th Year: The Will is Ours, the Victory is Ours" program held at the Capital Millet Garden.

Here are the highlights from Erdoğan's remarks:

My dear nation, the esteemed Chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party, Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, the valuable chairmen of our political parties, the respected relatives of our martyrs, our heroic veterans, dear youth, ladies and gentlemen; I greet you all with my most heartfelt feelings, respect, and affection.

On the tenth anniversary of the bloody coup attempt, we are together with you at the Capital Millet Garden to commemorate the heroes who fell right beside us ten years ago and to realize our epic, which was written in our history with glory and honor.

I welcome and express my gratitude to all our guests, especially Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, who honored our program by saying, "The Will is Ours, the Victory is Ours." Through you, I send my greetings and love to my 86 million citizens in our 81 provinces and to all my brothers and sisters who love their homeland and flag and follow us through different platforms. Right at the beginning of my words, I commemorate each of our 253 martyrs, who entered the bosom of the black earth as if entering a rose garden for the sake of our independence and future on that bloody night of betrayal, with mercy, gratitude, and perfect reverence.

"THEY SAID, 'IF THERE IS FAITH, THERE IS A WAY'"

My dear brothers and sisters, those martyrs and veterans put their lives on the line so that no illicit hand would touch the bosom of our heavenly homeland. They shed their blood so that the glorious crescent would wave in the sky with pride and majesty. They gave up their mothers, their loved ones, and their own lives so that the Muhammadan call to prayer would echo freely and our state would remain free and standing until eternity.

They left behind their spouses, they left behind their children; they left behind tearful mothers and heartbroken fathers. But against the bullets raining down like rain, against the bombs dropped from helicopters and F-16s, and against the dishonorable ones who turned their barrels on the nation, they wrote a magnificent epic that went down in history. They said, "If there is faith, there is a way." They said, "We are responsible for the effort, the victory is from Allah." They said, "We will not surrender this country to the base ones who sold their souls for a dollar." Our July 15 martyrs also attained the secret of giving their lives for this homeland, for these blessed lands, every corner of which has been watered with the holy blood of the martyrs.

"THE SPIRIT THAT ROSE IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE WAS ACTIVATED AGAIN"

I convey my thanks to the heroic members of our Turkish Armed Forces who protected their honorable uniforms, which are the trust of the nation, against the terrorists who betrayed their uniforms on the night of July 15, and to all our security forces, including the gendarmerie, police, and special operations forces; and to every member of my dear nation who took to the streets with flags in their hands, prayers on their tongues, and love for Turkey in their hearts, making the squares narrow for the coup plotters.

That night, we saw that the spirit that rose in the War of Independence came to life and was activated again. That night, we witnessed once again what a great nation our noble and dear nation is. That night, we declared to the whole world once again that no power could stand before this nation, whose chest is full of faith. I congratulate my dear nation once again from here, and I express again that I am honored and proud to be a member of this great nation.

"SOULLESS AND DISHONORABLE CREATURES WHO BETRAY THE NATION AND THE STATE"

Valuable guests, please do not forget this: Betrayal is an insidious virus that permeates the body it infects down to every cell. This virus recognizes no boundaries in the name of morality or humanity. It wipes out everything in the name of morality, conscience, honor, chastity, and bravery in one fell swoop.

When you look at those who have betrayed this nation and this state throughout history, you see a herd of soulless and dishonorable creatures before you. You cannot see anything like a sense of shame in them. There is not an ounce of modesty in them. The trace of national consciousness or national awareness cannot be read in them. In their eyes, national and spiritual values have no value. They are the sworn enemies of the nation and the country. They are sold-out characters who stab their state and nation in the back for the sake of worldly interests. Now look, my dear brothers and sisters; the FETÖ members targeted our Grand National Assembly, our Presidential Complex, our General Staff, our Special Operations Presidency, our Aviation Department, our MIT Presidency, our TRT, and our TÜRKSAT in Ankara 10 years ago.

"EACH OF OUR MARTYRS HAS A SEPARATE EPIC"

They treacherously martyred the children of the nation in Istanbul and Marmaris. With the tanks, planes, weapons, and armored vehicles that the nation entrusted to their honor, they attacked not only our nation but also their own comrades-in-arms. On the night of July 15, we had 149 martyrs in Ankara alone. One thousand 508 of our brothers and sisters were honored with veteran status. Our Ankara Provincial Police Department building right across from us became the target of tanks, helicopters, and F-16s. As a nation, we witnessed every kind of treachery, ruthlessness, and cruelty.

That night, the traitor at the end of the radio was giving orders to the terrorists wearing pilot uniforms, saying, "Hit the police building." In these attacks, a total of 13 heroes, seven of whom were police officers and six of whom were civilians, walked to martyrdom in front of the Ankara Police Department. Dozens of our citizens who gathered here became veterans.

Each of our martyrs has a separate epic. Every child of the homeland who was honored with martyrdom or veteran status that night has a separate story. Especially for our youth, who are the guarantee of our tomorrow, I want to share a few of these stories with you.

Dear youth, look; one of the children of the homeland who was martyred here that night was our police officer brother Varol Tosun. Varol Tosun was a security officer who was passionately attached to his state and nation. His wife would sometimes ask him: "Are you not afraid of anything?" Our martyr would answer his wife like our master Hamza: "I am not afraid of anything my eyes can see."

Another one of our martyrs was our brother Ömer İpek. While leaving the house that night, he had told his sister, "I want to leave a beautiful country for my children." He had said to his mother, "Are we going to leave the state to these looters?" He had rushed out of the house by saying to his father, "I am going to become a martyr, my children are entrusted to you." To those who asked on the way, "Where are you going?", he was saying, "My side is clear. I am on the side of the truth. I am going to protect my honor."

News Source: 12punto