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EKONOMİK
FORUM
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We must strengthen democracy
and the state of law
TOBB members
coalesced
to defend
democracy
T
he Republic of Turkey and our democracy suffered a treac-
herous and villainous attack on the night of July the 15th. A
junta within the Turkish Armed Forces attempted a coup d’état
and tried to seize the power. If this attempt had been successful,
it would have massacred not only the ballot box, but the law, the
economy, and social peace as well. A civil war could have broken
out. It is safe to say that our nation and State had a close brush with
a historic disaster.
As the Turkish private sector, we will continue to work and pro-
duce for our country day and night by adhering to Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk’s words,“Sovereignty rests unconditionally with the nation”.
We must reinforce democracy and the rule of law against the
coup. Neither democracy nor rule of law can exist without one
another. It is a certainty that those who are affiliated with the coup
attempt must be discharged, but the only criteria when replacing
them must be “qualification”. If political considerations play a part
in these appointments, similar problems may arise in the future.
SELECT NEWS
T
he first harsh reaction against the coup
attempt which took place Friday night,
15 July, came from TOBB Chairman M. Rifat
Hisarcıklıoğlu. TOBB Chairman issued a sta-
tement that night, saying,“I do not recogni-
ze any authority other than the will of the
nation and democracy. I stand beside the
legitimately elected government. We must
defend democracy now.”
TOBB, Turkish business people andworkers
all held the first anti-coupmeeting under the
leadership of Chairman Hisarcıklıoğlu and cal-
led on everybody to support democracy. In
addition to that, TOBB and Hisarcıklıoğlu held
a simultaneous joint press conference with
the chambers and commodity exchanges,
operating in all the cities and in 160 districts
across Turkey, to condemn the coup attempt.
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu: