15 July: the day when it was the nation's word, not the coup plotters', that prevailed

Ten years have passed since a coup attempt and the epic resistance shown against it, and this allows us to evaluate what happened more calmly. Looking back from this distance, we see that reading July 15 merely as a failed coup attempt would leave its historical meaning incomplete.

Because what makes July 15 exceptional in Türkiye's history of coups is not what the coup plotters did, but what the nation did.

Türkiye's modern political history is a history woven with coups. From May 27 to March 12, from September 12 to February 28, coups were not merely interventions that changed governments; they also became the name of the tutelage mechanisms placed between the state and the nation, and hence of insurmountable distances. Every coup, in one way or another, gave the nation the message: "You are not the true owner of this state." Indeed, the state that tried to take root through coups did not belong to this land, but by corrupting this land it deepened the distance between nation and state.

On the night of July 15, for the first time, this cycle was broken. The nation did not merely resist a coup; it passed a historic verdict against the regime of coups.

That millions of people took to the streets that night, lay down in front of tanks and shielded bullets with their chests was not merely a reflex to protect an elected government. That night the nation declared that it had a say over the state, and that the fate of this country would from now on be determined not by juntas but by the will of the people. In this respect, July 15 is an event not so much in Türkiye's history of democracy as in the history of its becoming a nation.

A SOCIAL MOVEMENT THAT OVERTURNED SOCIOLOGY AS WELL

Indeed, the social movement that emerged that night did not fit the usual categories of the social sciences either. Social movements normally arise against the government. Yet on July 15 people took to the streets to protect the government, the state and democratic legitimacy. That is why July 15 went down in history as one of the most original social movements of the modern era.

The distance Türkiye has covered in the ten years since has also shown that this historic rupture was no coincidence.

After July 15, with the liquidation of the treacherous networks that had settled inside the state, Türkiye was relieved of certain burdens it had carried for many years. The great leap in the defense industry, the results achieved in the fight against terrorism, the security belt created in Syria and ultimately the establishment today in Syria of a regime friendly to Türkiye and to all the peoples of the region, the capacity displayed in Libya and Karabakh, and the steps Türkiye has taken on the path to strategic autonomy became concrete indicators of this transformation.

Türkiye, which at one time struggled to intervene even in developments just beyond its own borders, has today become one of the founding actors of regional equations.

In fact, the difference between the Türkiye that appears at NATO summits today and the Türkiye that fought a life-and-death struggle on the night of July 15 also shows what was targeted that night.

The common aim of the coup plotters, the centers of tutelage and all the forces that wanted to keep Türkiye in constant crisis was to prevent Türkiye from reaching the point it has reached today. That is why July 15 was not merely a security matter but also a matter of independence and sovereignty.

However, the real question we should dwell on in this tenth year concerns the future more than the past. How will the state-nation integration that emerged on the night of July 15 be preserved? Because being a nation is not merely a solidarity that appears in moments of crisis. The real matter is for that solidarity to be sustained in normal times as well.

And the way to this passes, first of all, through justice. It passes through keeping alive the organic bond between state and nation. It passes through the citizen's being able to see the state not as a power separate from himself, foreign and unreachable, but as the embodiment of his own will. It passes through good governance, merit, fairness and the preservation of a sense of social trust.

On the night of July 15 the nation took ownership of the state. The state, too, must make felt under all conditions that it belongs to the whole of the nation. Because state-nation integration is not an achievement that, once attained, is preserved forever. It is a living relationship that needs to be continually nourished.

WE DEFEATED THE COUP, BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR EGO?

Indeed, the problems we faced subsequently are precisely of the kind spoken of in the Noble Hadith. According to it, July 15 was the lesser jihad. That we are bound to face the truly great struggles is inevitable; they are unavoidable stations on the examination of our road to becoming a nation. That some people, clinging to opportunities they found or created from within the order after July 15, do not hold back from diluting even this blessed struggle. The mixing up of horse tracks and dog tracks, and so on.

The threats awaiting us today are different from the threats ten years ago. The threats that came with tanks and warplanes are behind us. Today we face quieter but deeper threats: excessive digitalization, individualization, dependence on comfort, the weakening of the institution of the family, rapidly falling fertility rates and the erosion of shared feelings of belonging...

Türkiye's fertility rate has now fallen below the population's replacement level. Young people are leading increasingly lonelier lives. The culture of limitless consumption and comfort offered by the digital world is weakening the family and social solidarity.

A nation does not collapse only through coups. It also collapses by losing its population. It also collapses by losing its families, by losing its shared memory and shared goals, and especially by surrendering to its comfort. We have arrived, all too quickly, at the point Ibn Khaldun pointed to. The feelings of membership, the belongings and the asabiyyah weakened by comfort are sounding the alarm.

We are now at a crossroads: will we be able to show the spirit of mobilization we showed on the night of July 15 also to protect the family, to protect the youth, to overcome the population crisis and to strengthen social integration?

THE PASSING OF SHEIKH HAMAD BIN KHALIFA AL THANI

On Sunday morning the news came of the death of Qatar's former Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. We pray to God for mercy, forgiveness and His good pleasure for him; and we offer patience and condolences to his family, to those who loved him and to the brotherly people of Qatar.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has gone down in history as one of the most influential statesmen not only of Qatar but of the Islamic world and Arab politics over the last half century. He succeeded in turning a small Gulf emirate into an actor of great economic power, diplomatic effectiveness and international visibility; he made Qatar a country whose word is heeded and whose weight is felt in world politics.

But what distinguished him from his peers is that he used the means and influence he possessed not only for his country's prosperity but also to be a voice for the oppressed and the wronged. Al Jazeera, which he pioneered the founding of and supported despite every kind of pressure, was for many years a window to the world for peoples whose voices went unheard, for societies living under occupation and for people under oppression. He contributed to the development of freedom of thought and expression in the Arab world and supported peoples' search for a freer and more dignified life.

The Palestinian cause was one of the most prominent chapters of his political legacy. By visiting Gaza he openly showed that he stood with the Palestinian people, and in their hard times he made important contributions to the reconstruction and survival of Gaza. By supporting activities carried out in education, health, humanitarian aid and the fight against poverty not only in Palestine but in many regions of the Islamic world, he became a means of lasting works coming into being.

The worth of statesmen is often better understood after their service has ended. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is also one of those who will be remembered well for many years through the works, institutions and charitable activities he left behind. In his time Qatar stood out not only through its economic power but also through its claim to assume humanitarian and moral responsibility.

We remember with goodness this exceptional statesman, who spent a significant part of his life showing sensitivity to the causes of the ummah, and we pray that the services he rendered will be a means of mercy and forgiveness for him.