President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day Commemoration Program at the Presidential Complex.
"Today, we commemorate the 8th anniversary of the victory of my nation, the epic of resistance that our noble nation wrote with their bare hands against the FETO coup plotters. On the 8th anniversary of July 15, we are united in this sacred place and across all 81 provinces.
Just as we were 8 years ago, today we stand shoulder to shoulder. We are one, we are together. With young and old, men and women, all 85 million of us are a single fist.
As a member of this noble nation and as the President of Türkiye, I first want to express the satisfaction I feel from this magnificent picture of brotherhood before me. I thank each and every one of you for this formidable unity and solidarity, which gives confidence to friends and instills fear in enemies.
On the night of July 15, 252 of our citizens who resisted the coup attained this good news and were honored with martyrdom. Besides our martyrs, 2,740 of our people were injured that night and became veterans.
To all my brothers and sisters who responded to our call on television that night, who rushed to the streets, squares, and airports, who stood fearlessly against planes and helicopters, who shielded themselves against bullets with their chests, and who wrote an epic of independence with their flags in hand, I extend my gratitude on behalf of myself and my nation.
The FETO traitors who extended their filthy hands to our homeland on the orders of the charlatan abroad left a black mark on our history with the blood they shed.
This treacherous network that sought to harm our country, our nation, and the government representing our national will, will be remembered with hatred not just 8 years later, but even 80 years later.
Neither we nor the nation that buried 252 of its children in the ground in one night will ever forgive these modern-day hashish-eaters.
Even after 8 years, our pain and anger remain fresh. Our determination to fight against FETO and guardianship is as vigorous, strong, and steadfast as on the first day.
Without falling into the insidious traps set by the FETO traitors, we will carefully continue this process until the last coup plotter is brought to justice."
