RAMALLAH, Palestine

Türkiye’s development aid agency has inaugurated a new park in the occupied West Bank in memory of the victims of the defeated July 2016 coup bid.

“On July 15, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish people blocked a treacherous and bloody coup and invasion attempt,” Ankara’s Consulate General in Jerusalem Ambassador Ahmet Riza Demirer said at the opening of July 15 Memorial Park in the city of Al-Bireh.

“The Palestinian people sided with the Turkish people on the night of July 15,” he said at the new park, a project of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).

“We are proud of the Turkish people for striving to achieve democracy,” said Islam Tawil, the mayor of Al-Bireh.

Orhan Aydin, the agency’s Palestine coordinator, told Anadolu that “the park was named July 15 Memorial Park to keep the memory of the victims of the defeated coup alive.”

The park is also hosting a photo exhibit commemorating the events of July 15, said Aydin.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup, which left 253 people dead and 2,734 injured.

Since its designation in October 2016, every year Türkiye marks July 15 as Democracy and National Unity Day, with events held to commemorate those who lost their lives defeating the putschists and to remember the bravery of the nation.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi