Hanged Turkish PM's relative applauds response to putsch

By Yasemin Kalyoncuoglu and Melike Kinaci

ANKARA

The will of the Turkish nation played a crucial role in thwarting the deadly coup attempt of July 15, daughter-in-law of Turkey’s only prime minister to be hanged by a coup regime has said.

Adnan Menderes was Turkey’s 10th prime minister who was executed following a bloody coup in 1960, which came to symbolize a dark period in Turkish history. Menderes had won over 50 percent of votes in the 1957 general election before he was jailed and made to stand on trial by a military regime that had overthrown his government. He was then hanged along with then Foreign Minister Fatin Rustu Zorlu and Economy Minister Hasan Polatkan.

Umran Menderes, who married the slain premier's son Aydin, told Anadolu Agency in an interview that if the people had reacted in the same way during the 1960 coup as they did two weeks back, the country could have saved itself from a lot of suffering.

"Whenever Turkey is on the rise, foreign powers soon start to find ways to trip Turkey. They sometimes do it by stirring up the Alawite-Sunni issue or sometimes by using the Kurdish-Turkish issue," Umran Menderes said.

Referring to the July 15 foiled coup, she said: "They tried to kill Muslims by [using other] Muslims, which is more scary. This is not a coup, but a terror."

When asked to compare the July 15 coup attempt with the 1960 coup, she noted that back then people knew very little about what was happening since technology had not been developed that much.

She praised the strong stance of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Turkish parliament, which she said played an important role in preventing the coup.

"Mr. President Erdogan and Mr. Prime Minister Yildirim bravely prevented the coup attempt. However, the greatest success belongs to the nation," she said.

She added that she too was attending the ongoing "stand up for democracy" rallies, being held every night by Turkish people across the country since July 15.

Turkey's government has said the deadly July 15 coup attempt was organized by followers of U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his Fetullah Terrorist Organization.

Gulen is also accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

At least 246 people, including 62 police officers, five soldiers and 179 civilians were martyred and more than 2,100 others were injured in the coup attempt.

Reporting by Yasemin Kalyoncuoglu, Melike Kinaci; Writing by Sibel Ugurlu,Emin Avundukluoglu