Bangladesh part of the webinar series titled “15 Panels on July 15th” organized by the Directorate of Communications has been streamed online.
The video conference panel organized to discuss “Turkey-Bangladesh Cooperation in the Fight against Terrorism and Extremism in the Context of July 15 Coup Attempt” was attended by Turkey’s Ambassador to Dhaka Mustafa Osman Turan, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University Criminology and Police Science Department Lecturer Assoc. Prof. Abdul Kader Miah and Assoc. Prof. Ishtiaq Ahmed Talukder and Daffodil International University Lecturer Sabbir Hasan.
In his speech, Ambassador Turan said 4 years elapsed since the coup attempt of July 15, and continued, “In the history of 97-year-old Republic of Turkey, there had not been a terrorist attack more savage and treacherous than the coup attempt orchestrated by Fetullahist traitors on the night of July 15, 2016.”
Noting that the coup attempt of FETO was the deadliest attack that Turkey had ever experienced, which took 251 innocent lives and injured more than 2000 people, Turan said that, every year on July 15, Turkish people commemorated the martyrs and their bravery on the night of the coup attempt.
Indicating that July 15 was observed as the “Democracy and National Unity Day” in Turkey and around the world, Turan said, "The memory of our martyrs is what keeps our will stronger than ever to preserve Turkish democracy on the verge of the 100th anniversary of its coming to existence.”
Turan said that, on that horrific night, the brainwashed so-called soldiers affiliated with FETO murdered civilians from all ages who bravely defended Turkish democracy and that the tanks crashed innocent people.
The last four years was a period of perseverance and resilience shown by our people to prove to the world that Turks do not recognize any power over their will, Ambassador Turan said.
Turkish people from all ethnicities, religions, and ideologies became united to get over this national trauma with a lot of solidarity, Turan noted, and added, “Despite being affected by this horrific event, Turkish economy maintained its stable growth.”
Turan stated that Fetullah Gülen was the ringleader of a clandestine criminal and terrorist organization called FETO, and continued, "To understand the security threat posed by FETO ringleader, one needs to look into the enormity of his actions, primarily the July 15 coup attempt."
FETO is present in around 160 countries with thousands of schools, businesses, NGOs, and media houses all around the world. Their modus operandi is the same all around the world, Turan said.
Turan said that as they aimed to infiltrate and enlarge their global economic and political influence, they constituted “a direct security threat” for any country where they operated, and continued, "By brainwashing young minds at schools founded under the disguise of so-called training activities, FETO indoctrinated a large group of radical followers who carried out the instructions of the organization’s leadership unquestioningly and violated all legal and moral norms.”
Graduates of FETO-affiliated schools were able to infiltrate the most critical institutions of the state by stealing exam questions. Those considered as an obstacle to the organization were treacherously eliminated as FETO conspired against them, Turan added.
FETO strengthened its economic and political influence by abusing the state’s resources and authority for the wicked interests of the organization, Turan said.
"FETO poses a threat to the security of the countries where it remains active"
Ambassador Turan said that the perpetrators of July 15 coup attempt were brought to justice on the basis of the rule of law. Turan said, “We unveiled FETO’s organizational structure within governmental institutions. FETO’s attempt to spread to all areas of the economy, including education, media, and the banking sector have been thwarted.”
Noting that the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs attached great significance to the fight against FETO structures all across the world by demonstrating and proving the fact that FETO also posed a threat to the security of other countries where it remained active, Turan indicated the following:
“The concrete evidence gathered indicates that FETO does not hesitate to violate laws by acting almost like a secretive intelligence service and aims to establish political and economic zones of influence all around the world. We have taken administrative measures and initiated legal proceedings to limit the manoeuvring space of the FETO terrorist organization abroad. We also prevented its radical affiliates from transferring money and escaping justice. We are pleased to observe that the international community gradually understands that FETO is not a social movement that engages with education and charity but rather a dark and insidious organization with political and economic ambitions. Various international organizations have declared FETO as a terrorist organization.”
"Turkey-Bangladesh relations gained a new dimension after July 15"
Also addressing the panel, Assoc. Prof. Miah from Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University said the relations between Turkey and Bangladesh gained a new dimension after the coup attempt of July 15 and indicated that Bangladesh was also fighting against several separatist groups.
Touching upon the actions that the two countries should take against terrorism and extremism, Miah said, "I believe it is important that the two countries exchange information on a regular basis, organize bilateral meetings between government officials and set up a joint commission against terrorism and extremism.”
At the beginning of his speech, Assoc. Prof. Talukder also offered his condolences, to the families of those, who lost their lives during the coup attempt, and said, “I do respect the courage of Turkish people, who took to the streets on the night of July 15 and risked their lives trying to stop tanks.”
Talukder indicated that FETO conducted its activities through very dirty tactics and the organization had a very complex structure, adding how the organization brainwashed young people through the articles written in this field.
Daffodil International University Lecturer Hasan was among the panellists and said that he was in Turkey on the day of the coup attempt and that the attempt caught everyone by surprise.
Hasan told that Bangladeshi media had wide coverage of the coup attempt and noted that the people of Bangladesh followed the developments regarding the coup attempt and thousands of people made searches about the attempt on the internet.