Abuja-based Turks back Erdogan over coup

Members of the Turkish community in Abuja yesterday gathered at the country’s embassy in Abuja to condemn weekend’s attempted military coup in the country and declare support for the government of President Recep Tayyp Erdogan.

Speaking on behalf of the Turkish community, many who carried placards that read: “Democracy won, Erdogan Won, Turkey won”, “Sai Baba Buhari, Sai Erdogan”, their spokesman, Huseyin Oztunc, condemned the coup, describing it as an abuse of the country’s democracy.

“The Erdogan government came through an election and will go through election,” he said.

He said they were at the embassy to show their unflinching support for the Erdogan government. A section of the Turkish army had declared a coup and martial law late Friday, saying they had taken control of the country. But thousands of people heeded a call by President Erdogan and took to the streets to oppose them, and shortly after, Erdogan bounced back. Huseyin Oztunc said the Turkish people stood firmly behind Erdogan and would resist any attempt to overthrow his administration.

“Today, Turkish people in Nigeria are here to show support for our government, country and democracy. We are solidly behind President Erdogan and will foil any attempt to dethrone him. Turkey is a democratic country and democracy will sure stand,” he said.

While commending the zeal of the millions of Turks who took to the streets to defend the country’s democracy, he urged other countries to emulate them in the event of any attempt to overthrow their governments. He also joined Erdogan to blame the coup attempt on an exiled cleric, Fethullah Gülen, alleging that he was working for some foreign intelligent services. But Gülen rejected the conspiracy accusations and also condemned the coup attempt, saying, “Now that Turkey is on the path to democracy, it cannot turn back.”