The July 15th coup d’état attempt was discussed in detail at the panel in New York organized by the Global Policy Institute (GPI), an independent think tank located in Washington DC, USA.
The panel titled ‘An Anatomy of failed Turkish Coup D’état Attempt’ conducted at Harvard Club was followed by representatives from USA and international media, UN representatives, academicians, policy makers, ambassadors and leaders of international NGO’s. Prominent opinion leaders form Turkey and the World attended to the panel organized in order to describe the July 15th coup d’état attempt truly and inform international communities and media correctly, and its moderator was the former Prime Minister Mr. Mesut Yılmaz. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was the keynote speaker of the event. Mr. Çavuşoğlu citing his experiences in the night of July 15th said that “We know what happened on that night, the ones who suffered know it, however our European and American friends turned a blind eye to what actually happened that night. On the other hand, our men, women and children, regardless of their ideologies or political parties they support, went out to the streets to protect our democracy. We need to continue this spirit of solidarity and national unity and culture of consensus. Our duty is to empower civilian democracy in Turkey. We endeavor to achieve this”.
Mr. Çavuşoğlu adding that objective and well-balanced organizations like the Global Policy Institute, a think tank established in 2014 within BAU International University - Washington D.C. by Mr. Enver Yücel targeting to analyze and solve global issues with a neutral and scientific approach, stated that “Till now, we have extradited 9 persons out of 10 fulfilling USA’s requests thereof. And We have approved the remaining person’s extradition but we he has not been caught yet. What we expect from USA, our ally and model partner, is to extradite this person, who is the mastermind behind this coup d’état attempt, to Turkey immediately, and at the first stage his arrest. This person continues his threats in USA". Mr. Çavuşoğlu, stating that there are 500 persons placed in his ministry by FETÖ, remarked that “It is not possible for me to continue working with these persons of course. The public workers who are found out to be FETÖ members are discharged from their duty”. The panel’s moderator, former Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz expressed that Turkey needed USA’s support at the night of July 15th. Mr. Yılmaz continued that “This support took a long time to come unfortunately”. Mr. Yılmaz added that “How can such a group took deep roots in such a modern country like Turkey? What were their master plan, what would have happened if they were successful? Even Turkish people is not clear about what happened. What we experienced on affected other countries and Turkish-American relations as well”. Mr. Yılmaz continued his words as follows: “For 70 years USA have been an important role model for Turkey for democracy, justice and economic development. We were in great need of USA’s support at the night of July 15th, however as I said this support took a long time to come unfortunately. The first statesperson to congratulate Turkish people’s approach against this coup d’état attempt was Mr. Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. The belief in democracy is strong in every social strata of Turkey. However, USA took a long time to truly understand the actual situation in Turkey”. Mr. Yılmaz stating that the role of FETÖ in this putsch attempt is proven by looking at the evidences and with various testimonies of witnesses, concluded that “It was very probable that this coup d’état attempt could have turned into a civil war”.
BAU Global President Enver Yücel emphasized that they had organized this event because of what happened in July 15th and he stated that “with our moderator, former Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz, and renown panelists, we had the opportunity to explain what happened in Turkey objectively to USA’s public opinion and media, think tanks and academicians. It is our duty to explain these events to NGOs, universities, think tanks and to the world. We must not expect from our government to do this by itself, we shall inform the public opinion about what happened objectively. Therefore, we organized this productive event”. Mr. Yücel stating that such events need to organized by Universities and think tanks in Turkey, concluded that they will conduct similar events in Berlin and Brussels.
Another speaker in the panel, Bahçeşehir University Political Sciences and International Affairs Department Head Prof. Dr. Gülnur Aybet, expressed that the coup d’état attempt is seen differently from domestic and international points of view. Ms. Aybet stated that “our Western allies did not stand by Turkey contrary to what we were expecting from them. Turkey was left alone, even worse, our country was criticized by them. Murdering of hundreds of people did not have wide press coverage in the West. It is not easy overcome anti-USA sentiment in Turkey surfaced after the putsch attempt”.
Stating that Fethullah Gülen has been infiltrating state bureaucracy from lowest grades for more than 40 years targeting to take complete control of the state, Princeton University, Atatürk, Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies Center, Emeritus Prof. Dr. Heath Lowry expressed that “their objective is to educate children of notable persons in their own schools in countries where they establish schools and have a say in state affairs”.
Another prominent speaker was USA Army Retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. Mr. Kimmitt, saying that he was in Taksim Square one week after the coup d’état attempt, expressed as follows: “Everywhere was adorned with Turkish flags. Cosmopolite urban İstanbulites were demonstrating against the putsch attempt. These people were not forced to be there, they came in thousands voluntarily. I saw this clearly and it affected me deeply”. Stating that there must definitely be civilian control on the army, Mr. Kimmitt concluded that “Turkey is a strong and valuable ally of USA in a formidable geography. We need to search for answers to the question how to prevent other coup d’état attempts”.
TR
