July 15 to mark fest for our democracy, says Turkish PM

The Turkish Parliament will discuss over a number of new measures to prevent future attempts to stage a military coup in Turkey, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said, as legal procedures have already been launched to heavily punish plotters. Yıldırım said July 15 will be marked as the democracy fest for Turkey as the coup attempt was foiled thanks to the prudence of the Turkish people. 

With the normalization of life in the country as the police and government-loyal military elements prevented the coup, Yıldırım held a press conference at his office along with Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar who was saved from the hands of plotters after hours of captivity. 

One critical question raised to Yıldırım was whether the government would consider re-installing capital punishment for those military personnel on charges of treason. 

"As you know the death penalty had been removed from our legal system. We will discuss with other political party leaders on what further measures we should take to prevent such future attempts," Yıldırım said, without directly responding to the content of the question. Political party leaders and lawmakers will meet at the Parliament at 3.00 p.m. in a special session. 

The coup attempt on July 15 was a black stain on Turkish democracy, Yıldırım said, but could be turned into the fest of democracy thanks to the Turkish people's loyalty to democracy and its freedoms. "Our people gave the best response to this terror gang. July 15 has now turned into the fest of our democracy," he said, praising the citizens who stood in front of tanks in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country. "We could therefore get rid of a very big trouble," Yıldırım said, praising those civilians and security personnel who have lost...