Turkey’s longest night

Turks lived the longest night of their lives on July 15, 2016. 

They bravely stood up to a bloody coup attempt and thwarted that danger, although hundreds became martyrs and thousands more were injured in the process. 

As a citizen of a country that has experienced a good many coups, I can confidently say that coups are always doomed to fail and will never bring good to their respective countries. 

In the past, coups have paralysed our country, taken it backwards as they always cause tribulation (fitna) and the Quran says “fitna is worse than killing”. 

Therefore, we will never allow our country to fall into the hands of plotters. 

We are a country with a Muslim identity and we are living with a spirit of solidarity, love and brotherhood. 

Our people are sensible and have always refused to allow conflicts to arise. 

As Turks, we have always stood side by side with our soldiers, police officers and the state and that is exactly what happened on the night of July 15. 

I also consistently urged people on live TV to act with common sense from the moment events began to unfold until the next day. 

Indeed, our people acted not only with unprecedented bravery, but also with unprecedented reason and common sense despite the shocking events of the night. 

No good will ever come out of imposition. Human life is considered worthless in many parts of the world, with people showered with bullets the moment they are seen as a threat. 

Turks will never accept such treatment or Turkey being turned into a country like that. 

Turkish people have pride and they love their nation. 

This was the victory of the people and if our nation had not acted like well-built walls, the coup plotters would have succeeded even with only half of the power they had that night. 

However, our citizens showed their love and devotion to their country. 

Everyone from young men courageously lying in front of the tanks to mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers with their canes to little children stood bravely in defiance and defeated this deranged attack. 

We will never forget the heroic men standing up to the plotters or parking their cars in front of tanks to stop them from going forward. 

The night started as a nightmare, but came to a legendary conclusion the next day with our heroic martyrs paving the way for the victory of democracy. 

People were hand in hand and shoulder-to-shoulder and so were the non-governmental organisations, the politicians and the political parties. 

Regardless of their differing political views, they all stood in solidarity against the coup attempt. 

None of the MPs left the Assembly building, even when it was being bombed by plotters. 

These were precious moments that will be forever etched in our minds. 

From this point on, the Turkish government will take necessary protective measures with the support and help of its people. 

It is for everyone’s benefit to solve things in a sensible and rational manner, because acting irrationally and emotionally can spell disaster. 

Therefore, we will maintain our spirit of brotherhood and calm as we continue to take all necessary precautions.