Turkey marks one year anniversary of the July, 15, 2016 failed coup

Turkey on Saturday marked the one year anniversary of the failed attempted coup on July, 15, 2016 led by a section of the Turkish military in which at least 260 people were killed and 2,196 wounded - through various activities across the country and also in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. 

The event will see President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a rally and unveil a memorial on an Istanbul bridge across the Bosphorus (Has been renamed the Bridge of the Martyrs), where crowds confronted soldiers that became a landmark of resistance and will later address parliament. Also a National Unity Walk will be held at Istanbul tonight at 6.30pm following which a democratic watch will take place, with 15 July declared an annual holiday.

Also, Istanbul is awash with giant anniversary billboards and posters showing people confronting pro-coup soldiers, with anti-coup slogans strung between the minarets of mosques.

Billboards like this one paying tribute to the "Legend of 15 July" have been erected

Recall that on Friday 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that called themselves the “Peace at Home Council” attempted to overthrow the government and Erdogan using tanks, warplanes and helicopters and then making an announcement aired in Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) in Ankara.
 
On the day of the coup, military jets were seen flying over Ankara, as both the Fatih Sultan Mehmet and Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul were closed. The rebels also bombed the Grand National Assembly in Ankara and other key locations, and raided an Aegean resort where Erdogan had been on vacation but had already left.

Turkish soldiers standing guard at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey

As a result of the large-scale operations carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces and the police, the attempted coup was prevented on the following day, Saturday July 16. 

Following the coup's failure, that left 300 military and civilians martyred and nearly 15,400 injured, a state of emergency was announced in the country in response and has since been extended several times.

And since then, about 170,000 people were detained as suspects while about 50,000 of them were sentenced to pre-trial detention. 

Turkey blamed the coup on self exiled Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gulen, and has pleaded with the US for his extradition.

Meanwhile in TRNC, commemorative events took place throughout the country. 

Turkish Ambassador to Lefkoşa Derya Kanbay delivered a speech condemning the FETÖ terrorist organisation and praised the heroic efforts of the Turkish people who stood their ground against the terrorist organisation.

TRNC President, Mustafa Akıncı for his part remembered the events that took place saying that state and government officials in the TRNC acted in unity on that eventful night and praised the efforts of the Turkish nation who went down in history for their heroic efforts to prevent the coup from taking place and protecting their democracy.

They came on to the streets upon the call of President Erdogan and defeated the coup. The civilian population is a major cause of resistance against tanks with flags, he said.

He also expressed his gratitude and the Turkish Cypriot peoples’ gratitude to the martyrs who sacrificed their life in order to protect democracy and their state.