It has been seven years since the resistance of July 15, 2016, when the Turkish nation braved bombs and bullets to prevent a bloody coup attempt by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), News.Az reports citing Anadolu Agency. 

Seeking to infiltrate the Turkish state since it was founded, FETO attempted a coup on the night of July 15, exposing its unlawful acts it had committed under the guise of a religious community.

After the Justice and Development (AK) Party came to power with 49% of the votes in general elections on Nov. 1, 2015, FETO was shaken by a decision by prosecutors in the western province of Izmir to arrest soldiers affiliated with the terror group.

The terror group decided to stage the coup once it realized that its schemes would not be enough to reverse the move, including by summoning then-Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Hakan Fidan and other senior officials for questioning, a large-scale raid on Dec. 17-25, 2013 to detain prominent government figures, and stopping MIT trucks near the Syrian border in 2014.

A recorded speech by US-based FETO ringleader Fethullah Gulen on March 19, 2016, was identified as a call for the putsch.

Following Gulen's orders, civilian and military members of the terror group went into action as they completed preparations for the coup attempt across Türkiye.

Bulent Aydin, the bodyguard of then-Land Forces Commander Salih Zeki Colak, was killed by the putschists at the General Staff Headquarters. Aydin was recorded as the first to be killed in the coup attempt.

News.Az