Turkey commemorates ‘epic victory’ over coup attempt with massive rally

People marched towards Bosporus Bridge where a tense standoff between rogue military personnel and supporters of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan occurred a year ago. The bridge has been officially renamed the July 15 Martyr’s Bridge following the dramatic events on that date.

People wave Turkey's national flags as they attend a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the attempted coup at the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 15, 2017. © Osman Orsal / Reuters

The march concluded with a massive rally in the vicinity of the bridge. The gathering was attended by Erdogan himself. The president had earlier arrived from the capital, Ankara, aboard the presidential plane escorted by an F-16 fighter jet. 

“My dear citizens, I want to salute you with honor, love and heartfelt feelings,” Erdogan told the crowd. “Like the day of the coup, our nation stood up with their faith against violence.”

The Turkish president praised the unarmed citizens who stood up against the rogue military and their tanks. “Did our citizens have guns in their hands? Just like today, they only had flags in their hands. But they had an even stronger weapon. Their faith,” Erdogan said.

Earlier Saturday, Turkey’s PM Binali Yildirim called the night of July 15 a “second War of Independence” equating the historic importance of the coup defeat to the emergence of the modern Turkish state from the ruins of Ottoman Empire in the early 1920s. “It’s one year since the darkest night was turned into an epic,” Yildirim told a special session of parliament, launching the massive celebrations across the country.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the attempted coup at the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 15, 2017. © Kayhan Ozer / Reuters