Yours Stumbled, Ours Made History
The experiences we went through since the night of July 15 showed our friends and foes very clearly.
We saw who the real sovereign is in Turkey. We witnessed a nation’s insight, capacity and patriotism. We also realized that we still could not get rid of the pro-coup mindset despite the democratization processes from as early as the 2000s and that the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ) is a violent and deadly illegal formation. Even the word “assassin” falls short when defining the atrocity of the coup attempters who used the state’s weapons, tanks and aircraft against the people.
And of course, we witnessed how the U.S. and the rest of the Western world stood against Turkey in this. They disregarded the Turkish people’s will and showed that they would not hesitate to throw Turkey into the fire for their own interests.
On the night of July 15, the Turkish people showed the entire world that they have the capacity to protect and defend their democracy, liberties, values and lifestyles
Yes, we bore witness to all of this.
We observed the leading Western media outlets’ publications during and in the aftermath of the coup attempt in dismay.
Such poor fiction and such an aggressive tone have not been seen before.
One can easily infer from their publications that the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post or Foreign Policy might be controlled by the FETÖ headquarters.
They first released false news that the military staged a coup in Turkey and shortly after justified the coup. For a while before the coup attempt, they had already been releasing news asserting that the military in Turkey might stage a coup, adding that U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration would condone a possible coup.
Now we can grasp much more clearly that these were all political operation efforts.
When they saw that the coup attempt failed, they started to circulate new manipulations such as the claim that the coup attempt might be a scenario plotted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Soon after, they started to complain that Erdoğan’s power would be consolidated and Turkey would become more authoritarian after the coup attempt.
They did not care about the Turkish people’s confrontation with a large-scale military coup attempt headed by a terrorist junta.
They did not take interest in the crucial incidents, including the assassination attempt against Erdoğan, the bombing of Parliament and hundreds of casualties.
They chose to side with the military junta controlled by a terrorist organization rather than siding with democracy.
Shortly after the coup attempt, they came up with the lie that Islamist militants tortured the Kemalist soldiers.
Other lies followed.
They also claimed that the military was undergoing a dissolution and the security of nuclear weapons at İncirlik Air Base was in danger due to this dissolution.
All of these reports were manipulations aiming to mobilize the people.
They were of course addressing not to the U.S., but to the pro-coup terrorists here who are not yet pending trial.
They could not obtain any result.
The people have taken to the streets every day and poured into squares.
They watch and guard their democracy with great determination in a festive atmosphere of solidarity. They still keep guarding democracy in the streets.
Now, the Western media tries to problematize the state of emergency decision in Turkey.
They claim that this decision will bring a new authoritarian wave in Turkey.
However, almost all citizens of Turkey support this decision. Although the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) object to it for different reasons in order to gain a space of political maneuvering, at least a substantial part of the CHP base backs the decision.
Of course, everyone knows that only the state’s authority is expanded, judicial supervision of constitutional rules and the administration will remain in force, and no restrictions will be made with respect to individual rights and liberties. The daily lives of people will continue as usual. On one hand, an effectual fight will be conducted against terrorists and, on the other hand, it will attempt to prevent the emergence of new threats.
At this point, it does not really matter what international media outlets write or say.
Many agents claiming to be democrats were caught in the act.
If they could handle the issues through dialogue, they would not have activated other tools. Now they are only making noise to minimize the damage and not to victimize their guards.
On the night of July 15, the Turkish people showed the entire world that they have the capacity to protect and defend their democracy, liberties, values and lifestyle.
This article by Fahrettin Altun was first published in Daily Sabah on July 26, 2016.
