Istanbul Governor Davut Gül: As a nation, we experience a lot, but we forget it quickly.

Speaking at the July 15th Symposium, Istanbul Governor Davut Gül said, "As a nation, we go through a lot. But sometimes, out of compassion, sometimes for various reasons, we quickly forget. And when we forget so quickly, we don't question it when we hear something different somewhere else. Nine years isn't a very long time. What we're talking about, what we've seen, what we've experienced, happened within nine years. It happened nine years ago. And this incident, which happened nine years ago, is very fresh. Our veterans and relatives of martyrs who experienced it firsthand are still alive."

In addition to Davut Gül, the program was attended by Deputy Director General of Security Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Çalışkan, Yıldız Technical University President Eyüp Debik, July 15th Association President İsmail Hakkı Turunç, July 15th Veteran and martyr's wife Vahide Şefkatlioğlu, and numerous other guests. The program began with a moment of silence and the singing of the National Anthem, followed by a short film depicting the events of the night of July 15th. The program then included a recitation from the Quran in memory of the martyrs.

'IT WAS AN OCCUPATION ATTEMPT'

Speaking at the program, Istanbul Governor Davut Gül said, "As a nation, we go through a lot. But sometimes, out of compassion, sometimes for various reasons, we quickly forget. And when we forget quickly, we don't question it when we hear something different somewhere else. Nine years isn't a very long time. What we're talking about, what we've seen, what we've experienced, happened within nine years. It happened nine years ago. And this event, which happened nine years ago, is very fresh. We still have veterans and relatives of martyrs who experienced it firsthand. In other words, it hasn't been fifty, a hundred, or two hundred years. There are lessons to be learned from this. Turkey has seen many coups. But this isn't what we would call a classic coup. Who did it? The Armed Forces of our nation, our public institutions and organizations, who infiltrated us... In short, the people we see everywhere, on the streets, sometimes our neighbors, sometimes our relatives, sometimes our colleagues, under the direction of foreign intelligence agencies, attempted to perpetrate this betrayal against this nation under the guise of the FETÖ terrorist organization. It was an invasion attempt."

'OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO UNDERSTAND AND EXPLAIN THIS ISSUE WITH ITS TRUTH'

Governor Gül said, "The courage and sagacity of our President, the foresight of our nation, the resistance of our institutions, especially our Grand National Assembly of Turkey... Yes, it had infiltrated the Turkish Armed Forces the most. But in this struggle, it was our soldiers who fought the hardest, standing by their state and nation within the Turkish Armed Forces. Similarly, it infiltrated our police force, but it was our police officers who fought the hardest. In short, some of our 85 million citizens in Türkiye were granted veteran status, some were not. Some were granted martyrdom, some were not. But each of them took to the streets to become veterans and martyrs. Our duty is to understand and explain this issue with its truth, to keep our memory alive so that it does not happen again, and most importantly, to preserve our unity, integrity, and brotherhood. We preserve our gratitude and appreciation forever to our martyrs, relatives of martyrs, and veterans who paid the price for this. On this occasion, I once again pay my respects to our martyrs." "I pray for God's mercy. I wish our veterans health, well-being, and well-being," he said.

DHA

Reporter: News Center