Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Reading the joint statement, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the National Assembly has been the target of a heinous attack on democracy on Friday, July 15^th.

The statement read by Hisarcıklıoğlu is as follows:

“Today, we are at the Turkish Grand National Assembly as the 538 prominent syndicates, confederations, professional and civil society organizations of our country.

The National Assembly was the target of a heinous attack on Friday. Traitors bombed it for the first time in history. The National Assembly resisted heroically, earning its title of ‘Veteran’ once again.

It is clear that without democracy and the rule of law, there can be no civil society organizations. We, who have convened here today, see no alternative to democracy for the future of our country.

The defiance of our people from the night of Friday to the first light of day has given us all hope for the future of our country. All democratic institutions of our country and our people rose to protect our democracy in the face of this heinous attack.

The media resisted armed takeovers, putting their lives of the line in order to preserve the right of our nation to news.

The President of the Republic of Turkey, the National Assembly Speaker and Prime Minister as well as all political parties stood tall and foiled the plans of the putschists.

Our people, while tanks were running over cars and people in the streets, while bombs rained from the sky, while under fire, filled the squares, putting forth their determination and will for democracy.

Heroic law enforcement officers and honorable Turkish soldiers stayed true to their vows to prevent the success of the coup, endangering their lives. They caught the perpetrators red-handed.

Turkey acted as it should as a whole. Our democracy passed an exam of maturity.

Turkish democracy and the institutions of the Turkish Republic proved that they are strong enough to never again yield to brute force.

Those who made an attempt at the political and economic gains of our country in the last 93 years have failed.

We, prominent civil society organizations, are grateful that the dark hours of Friday night were overcome through unity and solidarity.

Today, we are here at the Veteran National Assembly to urge that the democratic understanding reached in Friday continue.

Going forward, we should never forget the understanding we’ve reached today. Common cause should reign.

This coup attempt which disregarded the fact that sovereignty is derived solely from the will of the people has shown that the institutional infrastructure of our country must be strengthened.

The place where these precautions will take place and will be put into effect will the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

The traitors must be judged according to the letter of the law and be brought to account in front of Turkish justice.

At the same time, the precautions necessary to prevent such heinous attacks should be put into effect.

We must not harm our heroic army and patriotic soldiers in any way.

We, the representatives of 538 syndicates, confederations, professional and civil society organizations of our country, have come to our great National Assembly to fulfill our duty to democracy.

We are preserving the national will.

It is all of our duty to leave behind a stronger, more peaceful, more prosperous and more democratic country for the future and our children. That is why we must all focus on our work.”