ISTANBUL, Turkey
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has launched a major project to transform Istanbul's Yassiada Island -- the symbol of the 1960 military coup that saw the then-prime minister and two ministers executed -- into a place of "peace and democracy."
The project was launched by Davutoglu at a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday on the island in Marmara Sea, where former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was jailed and stood trial before being executed with ministers Hasan Polatkan and Fatin Rustu Zorlu following the 1960 military coup.
Describing the ceremony as a token of remembrance of the three men, Davutoglu said: "This place will be utilized for peace talks that we intermediate, democracy workshops and as a congress center.
"The court hall -- where Menderes, then President Celal Bayar and other defendants stood trial -- will be preserved as it is and handed down to the next generations, so that nobody will ever dare to make a similar attempt."
Davutoglu said a democracy museum would be built on Yassiada to commemorate the "heroes of democracy".
He called upon opposition parties to hold a symbolic assembly of the Turkish Parliament on the island on May 27, the anniversary of the 1960 coup d'etat "to show all the world that nobody can ever shut down the Turkish Parliament again".
The ceremony coincided with the 65th anniversary of Turkey's White Revolution, which ended 27 years of single party rule with the country's first democratic elections, where the Democratic Party, led by Adnan Menderes, gained a landslide victory on May 14, 1950, winning 408 out of 487 seats in Turkish Parliament.
Davutoglu said all political parties, politicians and legislators must display the will to defend freedoms against any coup attempt, acknowledging that they not only target a political party, but also the national will and have "devastating effects" which are hard to change.
He also promised that the Turkish government will never allow any repetition of coups in the country like that suffered in 1960.
Davutoglu said the memories and history of Yassiada and neighboring Sivriada would be protected together with their histories and green areas, and will be used for purposes in line with democracy and freedom.
During an election rally on Wednesday, Davutoglu pledged to wipe out all remains and marks of military coups in Turkish history, saying "We will erase all reminders of the coups."
"The lesson we should derive is: You either defend freedoms all together or lose them in the same way," he added.
Turkey underwent major military coups on May 27, 1960 and Sept. 12, 1980 and was also subject to several coup attempts.
Yassiada was renamed the Island of Democracy and Freedoms in 2013 by unanimous vote of Istanbul Governorate's Provincial Council.
