Huge rally to mark the defeat of July 15 attempted coup
ISTANBUL / AMN
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told a huge rally in Istanbul that he would approve the return of the death penalty, if it was backed by Parliament and the public.
“Parliament is the authority that will decide on the death penalty. The next step will be clear after the parliament takes a decision. I will approve reinstating the death penalty if the parliament approves,” Erdogan said, adding that the Turkish political parties should abide by the will of the people.
He was speaking to hundreds of thousands of flag-waving supporters. More than a million people attended a pro-democracy rally held in Istanbul in response to Turkey’s failed coup attempt last month.
The huge rally to mark the defeat of the July 15 attempted coup was another blow for Turkey’s enemies, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday.
Erdogan said Turkey would now take a “path in solidarity” towards the future. “Gulenists [supporters of U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen] didn’t take the people into account… Night of the July 15 coup bid showed that this country cannot be undone,” he said.
“We will make the whole world know what Fetullah Terrorist Organization [FETO] is,” the president said.
The president asked the people to extend their “democracy watch” rallies until Wednesday in the country. “Today is a comma [pause] in democracy rallies, we will end the rallies on Wednesday,” he added.
Erdogan was the final speaker to address a crowd that police said numbered nearly five million people.
It was the first time the leaders of the Justice and Development (AK) Party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) had shared a platform.
Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar and Turkey’s top cleric Mehmet Gormez also attended.
The Yenikapi event is the highlight of weeks of democracy rallies held in cities across the country since the defeated coup, which led to 240 deaths.
Turkey’s government has said the coup was organized by the followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999.