Türkiye commemorates eight years since defeating the FETO-led coup attempt, highlighting resilience, solidarity, and continued support from allies like Qatar.

Türkiye is commemorating the eight-year anniversary of the Turkish people’s victory against the failed coup attempt by the terrorist Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO), led by Fetullah Gulen, on July 15, 2016.

FETO is not only a terrorist organisation, but also one that operates under the guise of religion and education while attempting to pull the country and its people back to square one.

The organisation had attempted to drag Türkiye to a state of political and security instability under military coups that the country had suffered from for decades.

The failed coup was nothing but a treacherous attempt to isolate Türkiye and limit its significant position that the oppressed people have only aspired to reach by making it a marginal and an ineffective state.

The coup’s plan was not drawn up locally as multiple evidence indicated the involvement of many international parties in it.

Yet, the heroic Turkish people’s stance foiled this conspiracy and preserved the state and its capabilities from collapse as they had not forgotten the results of the past military rule nor the thousands of victims of previous coups.

With the support of the police and armed forces, the people did not allow such tragedies to be repeated.

Instead, they confronted the coup plotters’ armoured vehicles with their bare chests, succeeding in expelling them from the places they had captured. The people were at the heart of the confrontations with a firm and conscious leadership that led the nation with determination and steadfastness.

The coup plotters used tanks, fighter jets and helicopters against civilians, leaving behind 251 martyrs and injuring more than 2,000 people who sacrificed their souls and blood to defend their homeland.

This has revealed that the coup attempt did not only personally target President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or his government, but rather Turkish democracy as a whole.

Such democracy has become an inspiring model for many peoples and countries of the world, something that the world, both East and West, witnessed during the presidential and parliamentary elections of May 2023 as well as in the municipal elections in March 2024.

The elections witnessed the highest participation rate in the contemporary world and presented a living example of competitiveness, pluralism, integrity and transparency, as proven by the results fluctuation.

The elections further stood as evidence of the people’s awareness and ability to defend their freedom as well as their eagerness to freely express their opinion.

Overcoming challenges eight years on

The failed coup attempt has exemplified the solidity of Türkiye’s political and social system and its conscious people, which was proven in later disasters, most notably the tragic February 2023 earthquake that affected the security and safety of millions.

The consciousness of the political and civil leadership as well as the people’s solidarity with all social groups and components built a strong response in the face of the disaster.

Before the first year had passed after the earthquake, His Excellency the President was in the impacted areas handing over the people their new homes. This would not have happened in such an effective and efficient manner if the coup attempt succeeded in destroying the state’s achievements and its institutions.

Despite the negative repercussions of the coup attempt, the exit of billions of dollars from the country, the repercussions of the global Covid-19 crisis, as well as the earthquake disaster, the Turkish economy continues to grow and develop.

Today, the Turkish economy is among the world’s 20-largest economies and Türkiye has emerged from the gray list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), marking a step towards further boosting international markets’ confidence in the country.

International institutions have raised the Turkish economy’s growth expectations for the year 2024 after exports soared in 2023 to reach $260bn.

Türkiye is now witnessing an influx of tourists from all parts of the world and is set to remain their favourite destination, with 18 million tourists visiting the country in the first five months of 2024 alone.

The number is only likely to increase and Türkiye will remain a tourism destination, especially with the Turkish leadership’s keenness to confront individual cases that seek to distort the country’s image and aim to harm its solid relations with its Arab brothers.

We share with our Arab brothers deep ties in numerous fields including religion, history and a common destiny.

Aside from the role the tourism sector plays in the Turkish economy, gas discoveries and their connection to operating networks represented a glimmer of hope for the independence and diversity of energy sources.

The continued natural gas explorations offer promising opportunities for wells in both the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

In addition to the economy, the field of defence witnessed significant growth, securing the country’s needs.

The industry’s growth expanded to support allied and friendly nations, which are seeking to possess weapons manufactured in Türkiye. The growing demand for Turkish drones (Bayraktar) is a testament to this.

We also witnessed successful flight trials of our national war fighter jet “KAAN”, which will enter service in the coming years to strengthen the hawks of our air forces.

Türkiye also has “KIZIL ELMA”, the first domestically-made jet drone, which took off in our skies, and is set to join other drones in service, including “AKINCI” and “AKSUNGUR”.

The largest warship in our naval fleet, TCG Anadolu, had also entered service as the first locally manufactured Turkish aircraft carrier with highly advanced technology under wider military expansions.

Over the past eight years, Türkiye witnessed a major urban renaissance that included the launch of many key projects, most notably the Çanakkale 1915 Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Built over the Dardanelles Strait, and the Eurasia Tunnel (Avrasya Tüneli), the bridge connects the European and Asian sides of İstanbul under the Bosphorus Strait’s water.

This is in addition to the large interest in projects in the transportation sector, especially with the launch of the first Turkish-made electric car (TOOG) in late 2023.

Strengthened active diplomacy

In mentioning Türkiye’s significant position and growth over the past eight years, one must also mention the diplomatic element.

Türkiye has only strengthened its active diplomacy based on mutual respect, bilateral dialogue and by extending the hand of love and peace to the world.

The number of current Turkish diplomatic missions abroad reached 261, distributed among 146 embassies, 99 consulates general, and 13 representations.

Türkiye has the fifth-largest diplomatic network in the world, while prioritising the diplomatic, political and economic work of the Arab region in general, specifically the Gulf region.

One must emphasize that the security of this region is the equivalent to Türkiye’s security for its strategic depth.

With respect to our active diplomacy, Türkiye has long called for the formation of the foundations of a new world order that will end unipolar hegemony, one free of hotbeds of terrorism, oppression, occupation and plundering of peoples’ wealth.

As His Excellency President Erdogan said and repeated on many occasions, “The world is bigger than five.”

Such principles and trends have been reinforced by Türkiye as it is the second-largest country in the world in terms of the volume of humanitarian aid compared to its gross domestic product.

Throughout all of its foreign relations, Türkiye has always emphasized respecting the sovereignty of states, not interfering in their affairs while respecting international law.

Therefore, Türkiye joined the lawsuit brought by the State of South Africa against Israel, enabling the law to have the final say regarding the violations committed by the occupation forces against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip.

Confirming Türkiye’s full support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, the political and diplomatic effort, led by His Excellency the president and our foreign minister, are ongoing on multiple tracks with all parties to reach a ceasefire and a permanent solution to the Palestinian issue.

Here, it is worth noting the complete and permanent coordination between Türkiye and Qatar since the beginning of the crisis in mediation efforts, relief operations, prisoner exchanges as well as all the reconstruction arrangements.

Under our shared commitment to maintain the flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza, we launched a vessel in cooperation with Qatar in May, which carried approximately 2,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The aid initiative was prepared under the coordination of Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) and Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD).

This followed a recent official visit from a Turkish delegation chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Yasin Ekrem Serim on July 2-5 to Doha in order to discuss the humanitarian aid cooperation in Gaza.

During the visit, Türkiye and Qatar have begun to cooperate to adopt the “Early Recovery Plan” in Gaza, which drew lessons from the previous earthquake response.

The tragedy provided Türkiye with the capacity and experience in the construction of permanent infrastructure and superstructure.

Beyond its diplomatic initiatives, Türkiye stands as the biggest country in the world in terms of the volume of humanitarian aid that entered the Gaza Strip, amounting to 32% of the total aid.

Now, as we look back at what we have achieved eight years since the failed coup attempt, we remember our righteous martyrs who sacrificed their lives and pure blood for the sake of our dear homeland.

With their sacrifice, we paved a path from which we will not deviate, in defending the security of the homeland and citizens, their freedom and dignity.

Türkiye has also not forgotten Qatar’s prompt reaction and strong support at the time of the coup attempt, when Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani became the first leader in the world to call our president to express his solidarity.

This article is an opinion piece by Turkish ambassador to Qatar, Mehmet Mustafa Göksu, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Doha News, its editorial board, or staff.