MINSK, 15 July (BelTA) – National unity and a monolithic society are very important for preserving accord, peace, and tranquility in a country, BelTA learned from Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkey to Belarus Mustafa Ozcan. The ambassador took part in a commemorative event held in the House of Friendship on the occasion of Democracy and National Unity Day, which is marked in Turkey on 15 July.
The ambassador reminded that on this day Turks mark the anniversary of a failed military coup attempt. Attacks on the building of the parliament, strategic facilities and infrastructure and an attempt to kill the president of Turkey took place on the night of 15 July 2016. Over 250 people were killed and over 2,000 were injured as a result of the clashes. The Turkish embassy in Belarus organizes commemorative events every year in memory of the victims of those events. “Our nation secured this heroic victory with a feeling of profound devotion to the Motherland. It is our common duty to remember and remind about this victory every year,” the ambassador said. “By doing it, we demonstrate our unity so that nothing like that could ever happen again.”
Mustafa Ozcan pointed out that Belarus was one of the first countries to condemn the coup attempt in the morning on 16 July 2016. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed support to Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei expressed support to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. “We are deeply grateful to them for it,” the ambassador stressed.
He continued: “Belarus is a very close friend for us. We have excellent relations in politics and diplomacy. We are also working on a number of concrete projects to advance economic cooperation between our countries.”
The ambassador mentioned constant interest of Turkish investors in Belarus. He said he was confident that this interest will grow stronger with time since Turkey views Belarus as a very important hub in its region, a gateway to the East (that is the Russian market), and an important logistics hub in the western direction.
Mustafa Ozcan said: “I would like to emphasize one more time that in the course of shaping its policy towards Belarus Turkey sets a high value on stability, security, calmness and welfare of Belarus. Because it affects calmness and accord in the entire region.”
In his opinion, national unity is particularly important for the Belarusian society now. “External influence, solutions enforced by foreign forces will produce nothing good. Only a dialogue inside the society, only solidarity can produce truly good results,” Mustafa Ozcan is convinced. “I've been staying in Belarus for a year and a half and I've come to realize that Belarusians are wise people. They can distinguish the truth from fiction. It is through the dialogue that they can support their own country, support accord, peace, and tranquility in it.”
Heads of several other diplomatic missions, members of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, representatives of religious and public organizations were also present during the commemorative event in the House of Friendship.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to Belarus Latif Gandilov noted in his speech that the unity of the society and the state had played a major role in the Turkish people's successful counteraction of the military coup. “The entire world saw the unity of the Turk people. When people and the government stand together, nobody can defeat them. Events in Belarus demonstrated the same: people and the government are together.” The ambassador described events in Turkey in 2016 and events in Belarus in 2020 as different links of the same chain. “Forms, approaches, and methods were different but a coup was attempted. You have to understand it,” he stressed.
