The most meaningful answer to 15 July: the transition to the presidential system

It is a meaningful coincidence that the 2nd anniversary of 15 July falls on the days when Turkey is experiencing the excitement and joy of having moved to the presidential system. Of course, these two processes are exact opposites of each other.

More precisely, the will that tried to carry out a coup on 15 July, thereby trying to impose itself on the nation by disregarding the will of the people, and the will that is putting the presidential system into practice today are completely opposite to one another.

Otherwise, it would in fact be far more fitting to see 15 July not so much as a coup attempt but as a date on which a popular resistance and awakening against that attempt emerged. Of course, the emergence of a good thing is sometimes possible through an evil that makes room for that good and enables it to be seen. Heroes do not stand out, do not emerge, unless there are evildoers and hostile forces before them who intend harm to the good.

The fact that Turkey's history is full of epic heroes and heroic stories is proportionate to the abundance of evils and evildoers in this country, and to this country's constant exposure to attacks. Had the 15 July coup attempt not occurred, it would have been Ömer Halisdemir's fate to live out his life as a private going through his routine, his heroism, greatness and courage unseen.

All evils are a test for revealing people's goodness, qualities and beauties. The weight, difficulty and severity of the test proportionately make room for beauty and goodness to emerge. Of course, it is not the case that everyone opens up to this space to display the same beauty and goodness. Those who open up are those who succeed in this test.

Just as 15 July enabled countless individual heroes to stand out one by one, it also provided, as a whole, a magnificent field for a people to display their heroism, and the people of Turkey, rich and poor, Turk, Kurd, Arab, Circassian, Alevi, Sunni, secular, devout, as one body, defying death, displayed their goodness, beauty, heroism, unity and solidarity. There were of course individual heroes of that night who stood out, but the truly great hero was the nation itself.

The coup plotters were so sure that the people would cower in fear, that in this test they would choose evil and bow their heads to the gun barrels, that they would prefer a dishonorable life to an honorable death, that like cowards they would shut themselves in their homes, listen anxiously and timidly to the coup declaration and do what was required…

The dull and stupid look of one of their spokesmen on live broadcast when he heard that the President was still alive and had called on the people to resist expressed the deep disappointment felt at the failure of the expectation of dishonor attributed to the people of Turkey. We had seen very clearly then what kind of picture of the people of Turkey this shattered dream contained.

"The people of Turkey could not resist; having paid to be exempt from military service anyway, they would not even find a hole to hide in when they saw a rifle and a tank before them." What kind of belittling of Turkey was that, my God!

Yet the people of Turkey were people of faith. They cared about their honor, they had no intention of surrendering their will to anyone; the occupation of their country and the yoke of thieving, usurping coup plotters was worse than death for them. Even if they knew nothing of rifles and cannons, their faith was enough, and more than enough, to perfect all their military training within a few seconds. What is a tank, anyway; they had found in themselves, ready and at hand, the power of faith that would extinguish even hell on their chests.

Without any doubt, at the moment they ran to heed, without calculation, without ledger and without any hesitation, a call from their commander-in-chief, their leader, they found ready in their possession all the strength, training and equipment they needed. We all lived through that moment together. I felt that the address of Almighty God in the Surah of Victory (Fetih) had been revealed, as it were, to describe that moment:

"He it is who sent down tranquility (fearlessness, courage, peace) into the hearts of the believers so that faith was added to their faith. The armies of the heavens and the earth belong to God, and He is All-Knowing, Possessed of Wisdom."

Let no one be misled by the failure of the coup. Unfortunately, there are even those who try to belittle it by looking at the failure of a coup that an extremely well-prepared structure, whose preparations lasted for decades, the world's most dangerous and most secretive, tried to carry out. It was even said that the entire coup was a theater staged by those subjected to the coup because it did not succeed. Quite a few ready buyers of this claim emerged as well. Of course, a significant part of these buyers are those who were themselves part of the coup, but another part can be regarded as the natural deviance of those at the extreme point of conspiratorial thinking. And in which category are we to place our European "friends" (!), who, though they saw everything, would not give credit to such a conspiratorial thought?

There were two different wills. The will that emerged victorious at the end of the night of 15 July is building Turkey today. And it is doing well. The event we are witnessing today is a manifestation of the will of the nation. That is why we are not merely witnessing; we too are joining this process, embracing it, and becoming part of this will.

A self-confident, insolent mouth belonging to the will of the 15 July coup had said: "we will not let you become president." The nation, the victor and hero of 15 July, gave the necessary answer to that empty mouth and made Erdoğan president.

Greetings to those who emerged successfully from the test of 15 July and to those who today crown that success by rebuilding Turkey. I pray for God's mercy upon its martyrs.