The “Victory of Democracy” Panel Was Held in Afghanistan

The “Turkey Is Impassable” Panel was held by TİKA in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, in cooperation with the Turkish Embassy in Kabul and other Turkish institutions as part of the commemorations of the Democracy and National Unity Day on July 15.

The panel was attended by Sinan İlhan, Turkey’s Consul General to Herat; Cengiz Aydemir, Education Counselor at the Turkish Embassy in Kabul; Ziauddin Aryaeenezhad, MP for Samangan; Salih Sağır, Afghanistan Representative of Turkish Maarif Foundation; Fazıl Akın Erdoğan, TİKA’s Mazar-i-Sharif Coordinator; Ali Ergun Çınar, TİKA’s Herat Coordinator; Ferid Ahmet Ziya, Head of the Turkish Red Crescent’s Delegation in Afghanistan; and the academic staff and students of the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Kabul University and Shaheed Prof. Rabbani Education University.

The panel began with the recitation of Quran for the souls of martyrs after the national anthems of the two countries.

In his speech at the event, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Osman Babury, Chancellor of Kabul University, stated that the people of Turkey took a firm stand against the coup attempt of July 15 and that their noble fight made the people of Afghanistan very happy. Babury stressed that Turkey has been supporting Afghanistan in education and especially higher education for a hundred years since the establishment of modern Afghanistan, and that Turkey’s success against the coup attempt was important for the future of Afghanistan as well. Babury stated that the noble fight of the Turkish people made the people of Afghanistan very happy.

Prof. Dr. Lailuma Sharifi Yama, Chancellor of Prof. Shaheed Rabbani Education University, noted that the coup plotters engaged in an act of terrorism against civilians that night, but that they were not allowed to push Turkey to instability.

Colonel Sinan Uyar, Military Attaché​ at the Turkish Embassy in Kabul, stressed that the main duty of the Turkish Armed Forces was to protect the country from external threats, and that on the night of July 15, they witnessed a coup attempt by a group of “terrorists and traitors who are members of an illegal organization.” Uyar explained the cell-type structure and spread of FETÖ in the military. Uyar informed the audience about the events on the night of the coup attempt, how public institutions fought against the coup plotters, and how the coup plotters attempted to seize control of strategic institutions and locations. He added that the organization tried to make room for itself through operations to discredit the staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, and that all the methods it adopted were irregular and illegal.

Ziauddin Aryaeenezhad, MP for Samangan, who was stuck in his hotel room on the night of July 15, talked about his experiences that night.

At the end of the event, photos of the night of July 15 were exhibited in the art gallery of TİKA’s Kabul campus in cooperation with Kabul Yunus Emre Institute.