July 15 defeated coup anniversary marked in NYC

‘I pray that we never suffer through a calamity like July 15’ head of Turkish non-profit says

Organized by Turkish non-profit, Cihannuma USA, the dozens of demonstrators chanted, “Martyrs never die, the motherland will live on”.

“As members of the Turkish-American community, we were standing right here last year today,’’ Cihannuma President Levent Ali Yilmaz said, while he recalled the events of the night of the overthrow attempt.

“I hope that we glean lessons from this extremely unfortunate event,’’ Yilmaz said. “And I pray that we never suffer through a calamity like July 15.”

The coup attempt, blamed on the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, martyred 250 people and injured nearly 2,000.

Coup-plotters used the Turkish armed forces against its own people, including the shelling of innocent civilians and the unprecedented bombing of vital government functions – including the parliament while lawmakers were inside the building.

On the first anniversary, Turks have taken to the streets in all 81 Turkish provinces to honor the victims, and highlight the resistance they used to put down the coup bid. including “democracy vigils” in which demonstrators continued to protests for days after the coup was defeated in fear of additional overthrow attempts.