REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

MINISTER TUNÇ: WE HAVE SUCH JUDICIARY THAT PROSECUTES COUP PLOTTERS AND HOLDS THEM TO ACCOUNT

Stating that the judiciary, which sided with the coup plotters in the past, stood together with the nation during the July 15 coup attempt, Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç said "On July 15, we saw that we have such a judiciary that defends the rights of the victims of the coup, defends the rights and law of the nation, judges the coup plotters and holds them to account".

Having spoken at the panel titled "The Judiciary on the Road to the Victory of Nation" which was held by the Justice Academy of Türkiye at the Conference Hall of the Court of Cassation, Minister Tunç said that Turkish nation displayed "great heroism" on July 15 and showed the world the way how the struggle for democracy should be carried out.

Emphasizing that security forces, patriotic soldiers and members of the judiciary also fought against the coup attempt, Minister Tunç said, "We gave martyrs for the future of our country and our flag on that dark night".

PLANS OF COUP PLOTTERS DID NOT WORK OUT AS THEY WANTED

Describing the history of Turkish democracy as "the history of coups", Minister Tunç reminded that the national will was blocked with the coup of 27 May 1960, democracy was intervened with the memorandum in 1971, national will was once again blocked with the coup of 12 September 1980, and said, "There was a judicial system that was aiding and abetting the coup plotters. There was a judicial system that judged the victims of the coup, not the coup plotters".

Minister Tunç stated that in the 90s, the elected government was overthrown in an undemocratic way with the February 28 post-modern coup and that the AK Party faced a closure case after its establishment. Stating that the putschist tutelage mentality attempted to succeed with various events in the 2000s, and finally made a coup attempt on July 15, Minister Tunç noted that the plans of the coup plotters did not work out as they wanted.

Reminding that many places were targeted by the coup plotters during the coup attempt, Justice Minister Tunç continued as follows:

"Our patriotic citizens stood in front of the tanks and tried to prevent them with their bodies. Our Parliament was bombed. Our MPs immediately rushed to the Parliament and said that they would resist against the coup and 'We are here even if you drop bomb'. Bombs were falling from above while the then Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ was giving a speech at the rostrum. The traitors among us attempted to do what even the enemy did not do. The enemy that failed to pass Polatlı in the War of Independence, unfortunately the enemy within, those tools, the tools of imperialism dared to bomb our Parliament".

SUCH AN ATTITUDE FIGHTING THE COUP PLOTTERS WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE LAW HAS BEEN EXHIBITED

Justice Minister Tunç stated that officials within the state conducted efforts with members of the Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors on "how to fight the coup plotters" following the July 15 coup attempt.

Reminding that a state of emergency (SoE) was declared on July 20 in this context, Minister Tunç noted that there were some who said "July 20 was a counter-coup", "You exercised a controlled coup", "This is a play, a theater", however, mentioned process was carried out within the framework of the law.

Reminding that people associated with FETÖ were dismissed after the State of Emergency decrees, Minister Tunç said, "The process of weeding out this organization was not going to happen in a short time. The decrees, which included dismissals from the public institutions and the closure of institutions and establishments that were considered to be in contact and affiliated with FETÖ, were sent to the Parliament".

Further emphasizing that the right to seek justice was also kept open, Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç said "The decrees became subject to the supervision of the Constitutional Court. Such a democratic attitude, respecting the rule of law and fighting against the coup plotters within the law was displayed".

Minister Yılmaz Tunç stated that 125 thousand people were convicted as a result of the FETÖ trials and 289 coup cases were concluded.

TERRORISM IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY, COUP IS AN ACT OF TERROR

Minister of Justice Tunç stated that there were members of the organization who fled before and after the coup attempt and that extradition requests for these people were still ongoing.

Expressing that some "allied" countries remained indifferent and acted hypocritically regarding the extradition of FETÖ members, Minister Tunç continued his words as follows:

"Countries that say 'we respect human rights' and 'we are the cradle of democracy' have unfortunately not stood by Türkiye in its struggle for human rights and democracy. The United States of America; the FETÖ ringleader was deployed in there years before the coup attempt. A headquarters was established there for him and he led the organization from there. And he did this under the control of the USA. We have 7 extradition requests, there are nearly 30 crimes. All these are fixed with evidence. Civilian imams were caught red-handed at Akıncı Base that night. Their contact with the FETÖ ringleader is obvious, but our extradition files have not been delivered from the US Department of Justice to the judicial authorities. European Union countries, especially Germany, continue to host FETÖ ringleaders, their contacts and affiliates. We always express this when representatives and Justice Ministers of friendly countries come to Türkiye. Terrorism is a crime against humanity, coup d'état is an act of terrorism. That is why we say, 'this crime against humanity requires international cooperation to fight against it when it happens to you one day'. We explain this to them every time."

WE HAVE A JUDICIARY THAT PROSECUTES COUP PLOTTERS AND HOLDS THEM TO ACCOUNT

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç emphasized that the judiciary showed "great heroism" on July 15 and stood by the nation.

Stating that lessons had been learned from the previous coups and that the judiciary did not side with the coup plotters on July 15, Minister Tunç noted as follows:

"There was a judicial system that stood by the coup plotters in the 1960 coup, the 71 memorandum, the 1980 coup, the February 28 post-modern coup. Unfortunately, we had a judiciary affiliated to the tutelage mentality, putschist mentality, Yassıada mentality. I say these with regret, but we have learned lessons from them. While we had a judiciary that stood by the coup plotters and judged the victims of the coup at those times, on July 15 we saw that we have a judiciary that defends the rights of the victims of the coup, defends the rights and law of the nation, arrests, detains, investigates, judges and holds the coup plotters to account. We are honored and proud of this judiciary. Our judiciary is more independent and impartial than ever before".

Reminding that there are some criticisms about the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, Minister Tunç stated that erroneous decisions can be corrected, but 24 thousand judges and prosecutors should not be blamed for a wrong decision.

Minister Tunç said, "We saw on July 15 that our members of the judiciary are at work as the judiciary of the nation, so we will continue to trust our impartial and independent judiciary".