Joint statement of four party groups in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Wednesday, August 14
9 August 2019
[Unofficial English translation of the original text in Turkish]
We, as four political party groups representing the will of the Turkish Nation under the roof of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey;
- Expressing that the terrorist organization FETO poses a major threat to the security of the Republic of Turkey,
- Emphasizing that the Turkish judiciary has put on record the fact that those who planned and perpetrated this most bloody terrorist attack with the coup attempt against Turkey on 15 July 2016, were the leaders and members of this terrorist organization,
- Considering the fight put up by our Veteran Assembly -which was attacked by FETO member traitors on the night of July 15th- for the sake of protecting the sovereign will and democratic achievements of the Turkish nation,
- Commemorating gratefully our 251 martyrs who bravely resisted the coup attempt and gave their lives for this cause and expressing our gratitude to the thousands of veterans,
- With the purpose of reiterating Turkish Nation’s strong will demanding that FETO members, particularly the terrorist organization’s ringleader Fetullah Gulen, must be held accountable before the Turkish justice, on the basis of the universal principles of law, for the crimes they committed,
would like to underline the following:
1. FETO ringleader Fetullah Gulen still lives freely in the USA. He continues to manage the terrorist organization from the USA and gives instructions to the members of the terrorist organization. The FETO ringleader continues to disseminate his twisted ideas, using the tactics of terrorist organizations such as DAESH and Al-Qaeda.
2. It is unacceptable that no response has been given to the numerous demands of justice institutions for Fetullah Gulen and other leaders of the terrorist organization to be extradited to Turkey to be held accountable before justice.
3. The fact that the USA authorities have not taken any action against FETO terrorist organization and Fetullah Gulen adversely affects the trust relationship between Turkey and the USA. As the four parties with groups in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, we share the strong reaction expressed by the Turkish society on this matter.
4. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey will continue to protect the Turkish Nation’s trust in democracy, fundamental human rights, and freedoms.
5. We expect from all our friends and partners, especially from the USA, to take into account the joint stance based on universal values against FETO of four party groups in our Assembly, and we call for the necessary steps to be taken for the extradition of Fetullah Gulen and FETO members to Turkey as soon as possible.
Signed by: Mehmet MUS, Deputy of Istanbul, Deputy Chairman of the Justice and Development Party Group;
Erkan AKCAY, Deputy of Manisa, Deputy Chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party Group;
Engin OZKOC, Deputy of Sakarya, Deputy Chairman of the Republican People's Party Group;
Lutfu TURKKAN, Deputy of Kocaeli, Deputy Chairman of the Good Party Group