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Deputy PM: On night of 15 July 2016, Turkey faced greatest betrayal in its history

14 July 2017 14:12 (UTC +04:00)

On the night of 15 July 2016, Turkey faced the greatest betrayal in its history, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Government Spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said on Friday.

He made the remarks at a meeting with a group of Azerbaijani and foreign media representatives held in connection with the first anniversary of the failed 15 July coup attempt in Turkey, an APA correspondent reported from Turkey.

He said that for Turkey there are two facets of the coup attempt.

"We faced the greatest treachery in our history on the night of last year’s July 15,” he noted. We faced some people who sought to kill our people by the capabilities they had acquired within the army for 40 years,” Kurtulus said.

The deputy PM went on to say: “We will never forget the masterminds behind this treachery, nor will we let it be forgotten... Unfortunately, there have been five military coups against the national will in the past 67 years, during one of which the prime minister was executed along with two ministers. The prime minister who came to power in 1997-1998 with the people’s choice was removed from power by way of threatening. During those coups, our people could not provide enough resistance for various reasons. However, on July 15, our people demonstrated their will. We ask our friends all over the world to share these realities. 15 July is a great heroic epic of the Turkish people.”