Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Turkey highly appreciates Azerbaijan's support in the fight against the movement of Fethullah Gulen, Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ercan Ozoral said.

The envoy announced about this at a press conference on the anniversary of the coup attempt in Turkey on the night of 15 to 16 July last year.

"Unfortunately, Turkey does not receive the necessary support from the international community in the fight against the Gulen movement, while Azerbaijan has supported and continues to support us on this issue from the very beginning," he said.

The diplomat noted that on the night of the military coup attempt, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was one of the first heads of state to call Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Azerbaijan and Turkey are stronger together,” the ambassador said. “The strength of Azerbaijan is the strength of Turkey and the strength of Turkey is the strength of Azerbaijan.”

He recalled that there was one Azerbaijani among more than 255 Turkish citizens, who were killed during the events related to the military coup attempt.

Ozoral noted that the events of July 15, 2016 didn’t weaken Turkey, but, on the contrary, made the country stronger. “After the military coup attempt, the Turkish economy during the year was growing at a faster pace than earlier,” he added.

On the night of July 16 last year, a group of rebels attempted a military coup in Turkey. The main confrontation unfolded in Ankara and Istanbul. More than 240 Turkish citizens were killed and more than 2,000 people were injured. The mutiny was suppressed.

As news of the coup attempt spread via social media and TV, thousands of ordinary citizens gathered in streets and squares around Ankara and Istanbul to oppose the coup.

The crowds resisted tank fire and air bombardments and, with the help of loyalist soldiers and police forces, they together with the government defeated the coup attempt in early hours of July 16.

Turkey's government has repeatedly said the deadly plot was organized by followers of U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.

The General Staff of Turkish Armed Forces has said that 8,651 servicemen of the armed forces participated in the military coup attempt in the country. The rebels used 35 planes, 37 helicopters, 246 tanks and three vessels during the military coup attempt in Turkey.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz