KARACHI: It has been almost a year when, on July 15, 2016, a coup was attempted in Turkey against the Erdogan administration. To mark the day, Consul General of Turkey in Karachi Murat Mustafa Onart organised a press conference on Thursday.

“A year ago Turkey and its citizens faced a very traumatic experience because the coup was not organised by the military but by a terrorist organisation — Fethullah Terrorist Organisation (Feto),” said Mr Onart.

He said this after a short video was shown which highlighted the events of the night. Graphic footage of how unsuspecting members of the government and military were killed in the attempted coup was shown.

Event held to observe first anniversary of coup

Mr Onart praised the Turkish citizens for taking a stand, especially after the video of President Erdogan addressing citizens to take to the streets against the uprising went viral. The consul general praised the courage and determination of the citizens who took to the streets and also expressed sorrow at the loss of 250 civilian lives.

“Even today when I see people wearing the Turkish military uniform shooting innocent people, or the parliament being bombed, I am very shocked,” said Mr Onart.

Speaking about how Turkey has fared in one year, he admitted that the country did go through a trying time and is still in the process of recovery.

A state of emergency was declared and drastic measures needed to be taken, said Mr Onart. “The equilibrium between freedom and security is very sensitive and we are doing everything to maintain this,” he added.

He disagreed with the use of the word “purge” with regards to the administration cracking down on those involved in the coup.

“These anti-state elements infiltrated all levels of the administration like a virus. However, they used an app called ByLock to communicate and coordinate their movements and actions. It was through this app we were able to identify all those involved in the attempted coup.”

He also acknowledged that Pakistan was one of the first countries to support Turkey and a parliamentary delegation was also sent to Turkey to see the parliament that was bombed. “However, apart from the Council of Europe, no other Western country supported us,” added Mr Onart.

When asked about the demonstrations being held against the current administration almost a year after the attempted coup, Mr Onart said that these are a true reflection of Turkish society. “Of course there are people who think differently, which is why they are protesting and demonstrating. But not a single person was hurt at these protests; this proves that Turkey is a true democracy.”

He concluded that the fight against terrorist and anti-state organisations is still ongoing.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2017