Turkey today mourns the 10th anniversary of the failed coup d’état of 15 July 2016: a day on which, through ceremonies, commemorative events and public gatherings across the country’s 81 provinces and under the slogan “Our will, our victory”, tribute is paid to those who died standing up to the coup plotters.
At the headquarters of the Turkish parliament in Ankara, which was bombed during the coup, the commemorations included prayers for the dead and the wounded, floral tributes at the 15 July Martyrs’ Monument and a digital exhibition entitled “15 July: The Victory of National Will”. Other exhibitions featured works of art dedicated to the anniversary and front pages of newspapers published during the failed military uprising.
Thousands of people from across Türkiye travelled to the province of Niğde, in the centre of the country, to visit the grave of non-commissioned officer Ömer Halisdemir, whose intervention during the coup attempt is considered decisive in preventing the military uprising from succeeding: Halisdemir shot and killed the coup-plotting General Semih Terzi and prevented the rebels from seizing the headquarters of the Special Forces Command in Ankara, thereby changing the course of events during the night of 15–16 July 2016. Visitors paid their respects and prayed at his grave in memory of his courageous actions on that day, which ultimately cost him his life.
In Istanbul, the roads leading to the 15 July Martyrs’ Bridge were temporarily closed for the commemorative events, which included a march across the bridge; previously known as the “Bosphorus Bridge” before the attempted coup, this bridge was one of the main theatres of the repression by the coup plotters between the night of 15 July and the early hours of 16 July, with 34 civilians killed here by gunfire from soldiers stationed there.
“We made a promise: we will not forget 15 July”
Another important ceremony on this day took place at the 15 July Martyrs’ Cemetery of Democracy, located in Edirnekapı (Istanbul); during the event, attended by several ministers and numerous officials, the Turkish Minister for Trade, Ömer Bolat, stated, as quoted by the news agency DHA: “Ten years have passed. We made a promise: ‘We have not forgotten 15 July, we will not forget it, we will not allow it to be forgotten’. And indeed, even after 10 years, we see that our people’s determination not to allow 15 July to be forgotten remains unshakeable.”
“On that fateful night, a handful of traitorous coup plotters, aided by an organisation (FETÖ) whose roots have been outside the country for many years, attacked our democracy, our national will, our homeland, our unity, our faith and our economy. They sought to place our country under foreign control, to fragment it and hand it over to foreign powers… But we managed to repel and defeat these treacherous coup plotters who attempted to stage a coup against our people,” said Bolat.
“We owe our millennia-long existence on these lands to our revered ancestors, our heroic martyrs and our veterans,” added the minister, who also noted that “the recent NATO summit in Ankara has demonstrated to the whole world just how respected, prestigious and powerful Turkey’s position in the world is today”.
Erdoğan: “10 years after the coup, Turkey is now stronger”
In an article written to mark this 10th anniversary, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – whom coup commandos attempted to assassinate during the night of the coup – described 15 July as “a great victory for democracy” in which the Turkish people defended their will, democracy and independence. “Full ten years have passed since that fateful night, when a great nation fought for its independence and its future at the cost of its own lives,” wrote Erdoğan, emphasising that the people taught “one of the greatest lessons in history” to those who attempted to take over the country and their collaborators.
Erdoğan recalled that more than 250 people were killed and nearly 3,000 were injured during the attempted coup. “Each of these victims is a testament to the sacrifice, courage and heroism shown in protecting the homeland, the flag and the national will,” said the Turkish President, emphasising that the pain of what happened that day remains fresh, but that Turkey is now stronger, more determined and more united.
253 dead and over 2,700 injured, most of them civilians who stood up to the coup plotters
The coup attempt, which began on the night of 15 July 2016, was led by a minority faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, which deployed tanks and fighter jets in Ankara and Istanbul and attacked key government institutions and buildings, including the parliament building, in an attempt to seize power by force. The military uprising was, however, defeated after thousands of civilians took to the streets and joined forces with the security forces to confront the coup plotters.
According to official figures, 253 people were killed and more than 2,700 were injured during the failed coup in Turkey, mainly as a result of gunfire from the rebels.The Turkish authorities blamed the uprising on a religious sect which, for years, had allied itself with the institutions and infiltrated the government, the army and the judiciary; popularly known as Cemaat (Community) and referred to by its followers as Hizmet (Service), the Turkish authorities named it FETÖ after the coup, an acronym for Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organisation, in reference to its leader: a Turkish cleric who lived in Pennsylvania (United States) and who died in exile in 2024, amid rumours of senile dementia and attempts on his life, with a fierce internal power struggle within the group erupting following his death. The Turkish government fought for years to have him extradited to Turkey by the United States, without success.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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