The Turkish government will hold a series of “democracy watches” to mark the first anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt, hosting several events between July 11 and 16 across the country and abroad, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Mahir Ünal has announced.
“On the anniversary, we will hold a ‘democracy watch’ as a symbolic commemoration,” Ünal said in a press conference in Ankara on July 4.
“The people performed ‘democracy watches’ for 29 days after the coup. This started and ended with instructions from our president,” Ünal said, speaking of the public rallies held after the coup attempt.
“Similarly, from July 11 we will attend events in 81 cities around Turkey,” he added, heralding a week of events to mark the coup attempt.
“The people who went out on the streets on the night of the coup were defending democracy, politics and the will of the people from every segment of society. We as the AKP will perform our memorial activities as part of the democracy we defended on that night,” Ünal said.
All provincial organizations of the ruling party and its headquarters will host the ceremonial activities for the July 15 memorials.
The AKP organizations will be at the Bosphorus Bridge, re-named as the “July 15 Martyrs Bridge” after the coup attempt, and the night will be remembered in “all the places that symbolize the coup attempt,” Ünal stated.
“We are not searching for democracy in the streets, we are commemorating the heroes of that night who went out in the streets to defend our ideal democracy,” he added.
The detailed program of the activities will be revealed on July 7. Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın had previously announced the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the “democracy watch.”
Turkey’s 81 provinces, specifically Ankara and Istanbul where the coup attempt mainly took place, will host the activities. The foreign missions of Turkey will also hold events to stress “the importance that the Turkish authorities gave to convey the graveness of the coup attempt to foreign countries,” stated Kalın.