Türkiye has significantly strengthened its institutions and security capacity in the decade since the defeated July 15, 2016 coup attempt, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz has said.
On July 15, 2016, members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO) attempted to overthrow Türkiye's government through a military coup centred in Ankara and Istanbul.
The coup plotters opened fire on civilians, turned against their commanders, and bombed the Turkish Grand National Assembly and the Presidential Complex, killing 253 people and wounding thousands.
Speaking at a symposium, July 15 in its 10th Year, organised by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) in Ankara on Monday, Yilmaz said the past decade had been a period of comprehensive restructuring and reflection for the country.
“All institutions of our state drew the necessary lessons from this grave experience and gained a stronger capacity to respond to the changing security environment and new threats,” he said.
Yilmaz described the coup attempt by the FETO as one of the most extensive attacks on Türkiye’s democratic order, aimed at replacing the will of the people with the organisation’s own hierarchy.
He said the bombing of parliament, attacks on the presidential complex and security institutions, and the targeting of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demonstrated that the plotters’ main target was the Turkish nation and its democratic will.
‘We must be very careful’
The public resistance under Erdogan’s leadership thwarted the attempt and reaffirmed that the sole source of legitimacy in the state is the will of the people, Yilmaz said.
He added that reforms introduced after the coup attempt improved coordination among institutions, accelerated decision-making and strengthened the state’s ability to respond to crises.
Yilmaz said Türkiye had moved beyond reacting to threats as they emerged and now possessed an institutional structure capable of identifying risks in advance, taking timely measures and managing crises effectively.
He also stressed the importance of preserving public memory, saying major events become part of social consciousness only when they are accurately understood and communicated.
“FETO is gone, but we must be very careful about similar structures,” he said, calling for vigilance against groups operating under different names.
Yilmaz said Türkiye also had an international responsibility to continue combating FETO and share its experience with friendly and partner countries to help protect their stability.
He added that eliminating terrorism permanently, including through the ongoing Terror-free Türkiye process, would strengthen democracy, development and regional security.
