Pakistan joins Turkey to mark defeated coup anniversary

By Aamir Latif and Islamuddin Sajid

KARACHI Pakistan

Special prayers for martyrs of July 15 were held across Pakistan on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the defeated coup attempt in Turkey.

The prayers were held in hundreds of Mosques in all over the country under the aegis of Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP), one of the mainstreams religious parties in Pakistan, for the martyrs who sacrificed their lives to safeguard Turkey’s integrity and democracy.

“It was a well-planned conspiracy involving some international powers to derail the democracy in Turkey through a so-called coup but the Turkish people foiled that attempt with unity and faith,” Shah Owais Noorani, the JUP secretary general, told Anadolu Agency.

In Karachi alone, Owais, a son of the country’s top religious scholar and politician, late Moulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, said that celebrations and prayers to mark the defeated coup were held at 61 venues.

“It was the unity, determination and the political acumen of Turkish people that led them to successfully defending the democracy on July 15 last year.”

Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

- Pakistan's unwavering support

“The actors behind the failed military coup had miserably failed to foresee the overwhelming reaction from the Turkish people who stood behind their government and leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” Owais said.

“Turkish people enjoy an unwavering support of their Pakistani brothers. We stood alongside Turkish people on July 15 last year, and will continue to do the same in any testing time”, he maintained.

Pakistan’s former foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said: "There is no doubt that Pakistan and Turkey are two brothers and nobody could separate us from each other”.

Addressing a seminar at National Press Club in Islamabad, Qureshi, who is also the vice chairman of an opposition party Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), said that the Turkish people were happy and satisfied by their leadership and that was the reason people took to the streets and defeated the coup attempt.

The Turkish people have set an example for the world that no force could derail democracy when the people are satisfied with their democratic government.

He paid tribute to Turkish citizens, who sacrificed their lives to defend democracy in their country.

Inayatullah Khan, the senior minister of northwestern Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province, also paid rich tributes to the Turkish people for their support to democracy and rule of law by foiling the last year’s coup attempt.

“We express our complete support and solidarity with the Turkish people, the government and the democratic institutions of Turkey. Our government and people of Pakistan will always stand together with our Turkish brothers," Khan told Anadolu Agency.

He said that friendship between the Turkey and Pakistan is time-tested and has strong roots.

“Turkey has always been a friend in need and stood by us in every difficult time”, he maintained.