Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli stated that Turkey now is a regional and global country which is setting the agenda, and continued as follows: "Now it is time for Turkey, now it is time to work. What is the greatest response to the villains? A Strong Turkey is the greatest response to these villains. The structure of the Strong Turkey has come together with the Presidential Governing System on June 24".
During the ceremony held in Konak Square of İzmir on July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day, Pakdemirli stated that they were again in the Konak Square 2 years ago in order to defeat the coup attempt and continued as follows: " Today is the second anniversary of July 15. Thanks to the God, we now can speak on this floor. If that attempt succeeded, all these floors would be in vain. Do you know what happened on that night? The will of the nation was assassinated on that night. There was a presindent elected 1,5 year ago and a prime minister elected 8-9 months ago. They showed up on TV unabashedly and blathered. They tried to assassinate the people's will. But you said "Stop".
Pointing out that all nation was banded together on that day, Pakdemirli declared that "That night, our democracy, our safety, our economy, all our investments and the future of our children were subjected to a hard test and we passed the test. Thanks to the God, our country is a major one, we have overcome all the difficulties. The plan of the villains became upside down. Every cloud has a silver lining, we need to think like this. If we did not live that night, we would never get rid of them. The terrorist organizations were removed. We told that we would knock them down and we did so. We got rid of the villains behind the masks."
Stating that "When the villain is hiding in your side, no lock will work" Minister Pakdemirli expressed that they will continue their struggle against FETÖ till the end under the leadership of the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Remarking that there is a stronger Turkey, Pakdemirli also expressed that "Turkey now is a regional and global country which is setting the agenda. Now it is time for Turkey, now it is time to work. What is the greatest response to the villains? A Strong Turkey is the greatest response to these villains. The structure of the Strong Turkey has come together with the Presidential Governing System on June 24".
During his speech İzmir Governor Erol Ayyıldız stated that July 15 is a date when the Turkish nation "stopped" the villain coup attempt and all evils and presented his gratitude and mercy from the God for the martyrs and veterans of that night.
Ayyıldız expressed that "On July 15, our nation left all differences behind and coalesced under the pillars of one nation, one flag, one homeland and one state and stood against the tanks, artillery, fighter jets and helicopters with their hearth and faith and wrote another page on the legend of our great nation which is full of pride."
Citizens of İzmir gathered in the Konak Square
The citizens of İzmir gathered in Konak Square due to July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day as in the previous year. After one minute of silence for all martyrs, the national anthem was sung. There also has been janissary band parade and a music concert.
The Minister of Agriculture and Forest Bekir Pakdemirli and İzmir Governor Erol Ayyıldız, together with the other participants, got on the stage and saluted the citizens. Accompanying the anthems with Turkish flags on their hands, the citizens also followed the live covering of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who was delivering a speech on the Martyrs Bridge.
Then prayers and Koran readings followed.
Commander of Aegean Army and Garrison General Abdullah Recep and AK Party İzmir deputies Mahmut Atilla Kaya, Ceyda Bölünmez Çankırı, Necip Nasır, Yaşar Kırkpınar also attended the ceremony.