Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu read the joint declaration with 7 NGO's leaders; there was also live connection to the press conference in Ankara from 7 provinces (Adana, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Edirne, Istanbul, Izmir, Trabzon). Abdurrahman Yüce in Adana, Engin Yeşil in Diyarbakır, TzOB Representative Huseyin Darcan in Edirne, TESK Representative Rasim Fırat in Erzurum, Türk-İş Representative Adnan Uyar in Istanbul, Kamu-Sen Representative Ahmet Doğruyol, Memur-Sen Reprsentative Mehmet Kara in Trabzon connected to the meeting on behalf of their organizations.

The declaration read by Hisarcıklıoğlu in Ankara is as follows:

“We will never forget July 15^th; we will not allow it to be forgotten

Our power is the will of the nation; our goal is great Turkey.

Distinguished Press Members,

Representing Turkey's civil society; The Turkey-EU Joint Consultative Committee’s Turkish wing, we are here as:

• Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-İŞ),

• Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK),

• Confederation of Officers' Unions (MEMUR-SEN),

• HAK - Confederation of Trade Unions (HAK-İŞ),

• Union of Agricultural Chambers of Turkey (TZOB),

• Confederation of Turkish Employers' Associations (TİSK),

• Turkish Confederation of Public Servants Trade Unions (Turkey KAMU-SEN),

• The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchange of Turkey (TOBB).

As democracy-loving institutions sitting at this table, we make this common statement at the same time.

We are entering the anniversary of July 15^th, one of the most difficult days of our history.

For two weeks, we will keep the July 15^th spirit alive in our country with different events and posters we have prepared.

We will not forget the 15^th of July, we will not allow it to be forgotten.

We believe that July 15^th is a milestone for Turkey.

Because this heinous attack, beyond a coup, was an invasion attempt.

July 15^th was the greatest danger our country has faced since the days of independence.

That night the Fetullah terrorist organization attempted to seize the "state" and take the nation under domination.

The main purpose of the coup attempt was to drag our country into a chaos unprecedented in our history; to ignite a conflict and put Turkey in a civil war environment.

The ultimate goal of the coup attempt was to bring the Republic of Turkey to a standstill.

Praise Allah, our nation, brought this plot to a stop though its courage.

We stood up against this assault against our national democracy and freedom, and defended our values ​​at the cost of many lives.

The entire organization at this table, from the very first moment, was beside our government and our nation.

We wrote an epic with our President, the veteran Parliament, the Prime Minister, our political parties, our nation, our non-governmental organizations and our media.

We bow with respect before our nation, who defied the treasonous coup attempt.

On July 15^th, Turkey passed the most difficult democracy test with great success.

We showed everybody that our democracy is too strong to surrender brute force.

The nation has stood up against the coup and proclaimed clearly: ‘No power can govern the state of the Republic of Turkey except the will of the nation.’

This is an exemplary attitude.

Of course we paid a big price for it.

In this struggle against coup attempt, 250 citizens were martyred.

2301 citizens became veterans.

We pray for the grace of Allah upon our martyrs. We salute our veterans with gratitude.

Our nation will always remember them with gratitude.

Very few nations in the world can afford this price.

The insurance of the future is the spirit of democracy of July 15^th whatever the political leaning.

Against the backdrop of such treacherous attempts, the fight against FETO should be carried out effectively and steadily.

Judicial institutions should give the most serious punishment to the putschists and their supporters, and should ease the conscience of our nationality.

Distinguished members of the press,

The time following the coup attempt, almost as much as July 15^th, was a difficult process for our country.

After the coup attempt, our society suffered a great deal of trauma.

FETO has carried away scandalous campaigns against our country abroad with false news.

Our economy was also adversely affected by this attack.

Praise Allah, thanks to our unity and solidarity, we have overcome all of them in a short time.

We have quickly recovered with the measures and reforms our government has made in consultation with us.

More than a year after the coup attempt, the economy has grown by 5%.

Employment records were broken. In the first six months of this year, we have provided 1.2 million people with new jobs.

We started to increase our exports to record levels.

We have regained the trust of foreign investors.

It is quite clear that Turkey has succeeded in the world's most difficult stress test.

Be sure that if this happened in another country, it would not be getting up again.

But we stand tall.

In such a region, we have done what no one can do under the toughest conditions.

But we will not get slack.

We have more work to do; bigger goals. 

We completed the recovery process after July 15^th.

Now we need to start a new breakthrough process.

It's time to run, now that we've broken our chains.

In growth, in employment and in exports, we have to break new records.

We must further increase the welfare of our citizens and strengthen our democratic gains.

For all of this, we must initiate a new reform process in common wisdom and consultation. 

Here we call on our friends abroad.

We want to see all of our friends stand with us after this first year of this great democracy test.

We invite our friends not to listen to defamatory campaigns, but to listen to the facts and act accordingly.

We look forward to the support of friendly and allied states in the fight against FETO.

Whatever the source, coups and terror are crimes against humanity. But if we work together, we can build a better future. 

We will now work with greater determination for our country and our nation; we will take Turkey to its big goals.

As Turkey's civil society, we will never forget July 15^th, we will not let it be forgotten.

The lessons we learned in building our country will be a guiding light for us.

We are hopeful of the future of this country.

Our power is our national will, our goal is great Turkey. 

We salute all of you with respect.”