In contemporary world, democracy is a powerful notion. However, when people use or refer to this word during their daily conversations, they often disregard the history behind it, how people fought for democracy throughout the centuries and achieved. In this regard, Republic of Türkiye, which celebrates her 100th anniversary in 2023, came through a long way to establish and strengthen her democratic foundations. Most recently, our country had a jarring experience seven years ago and thanks to the great tenacity and dedication of Turkish people, our democracy was protected from the coup plotters, namely the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).
On the night of 15 July 2016, the militants of FETÖ attempted to overthrow the democratically elected Turkish Government. Their agents, who have been infiltrating to the bureaucracy and military for the last 30 years, exploited their positions to reach their sinister goals. They tried to take over the control of critical state institutions and news agencies, bombed the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and even attempted to assassinate the President of the Republic. Against this existential threat, President Erdoğan called the Turkish nation to stand up the plotters and our people swiftly and fearlessly acted along in order to protect their will, freedom, future and democracy. For this cause, more than 250 people have lost their lives, whereas more than 2000 people were wounded. Thanks to the sacrifice of the heroes of the Turkish nation, our country has prevailed in carrying her democratic elements and qualities to the next century.
Despite the fact that the coup had failed that day, the menace caused by FETÖ still is alive. The said organization extended its reach to more than 160 countries around the world since 1990s under the guise of educational institutions, health centers, business and media outfits. The members of FETÖ use several tools to gain political influence at the countries they have a foothold, including brainwashing children they educate, bribing politicians and inciting black propaganda against interest groups which do not cooperate with them. Especially, they abuse the religious sentiments of the Muslim communities in these countries. Therefore, they undermine and corrupt the democracy and the state of their host countries.
Legal literacy
Türkiye continues her efforts to eradicate FETÖ structures in third countries. So far, FETÖ affiliated schools over 50 countries have been closed upon Türkiye’s request, most of these schools are taken over by the Maarif Foundation, the sole entity authorized by the Turkish Government to provide educational services abroad. Turkish official institutions and NGOs are actively engaging with the foreign counterparts and the public with the aim of providing them correct and comprehensive information about FETÖ’s ill-omened agenda. It can be expected that Türkiye’s fight with FETÖ in global scene will stay on in the long-term.
In this context, we urge all the nations to collaborate with us against the said terrorist organization. Since the coup attempt, Turkish Government has increased its diplomatic efforts to raise the awareness of the foreign governments, including Nepal, against FETÖ. Thanks to Nepalese Government’s positive approach, we achieved to break the influence of FETÖ in Nepal in the past years. We expect our Nepalese friends to expand their cooperation with Türkiye in regard to this matter in the future as well.
The moral of Türkiye’s story against the coup attempt at its seventh anniversary retains its validity. Democracy is a goal that can only be achieved by societies that make many sacrifices for this cause. The memories of the Nepalese people about their hard fight against great odds for reaching this aim are still fresh. Thus, like Türkiye, our Nepalese friends also understand the critical importance of keeping their democratic values against current threats and challenges. In this respect, it is only natural to expect these two countries to fight side by side to protect their democracies in the future.
The author is Ambassador of Türkiye to Nepal
