INTERNATIONAL 15 JULY and COUPS SYMPOSIUM
GLOBAL EFFECTS, MEDIA and DEMOCRACY
July 15, 2016 is one of the most important turning points in democracy history of Turkey. A group of Fethullahçı Terrorist Organization (FETO), who penetrated into the Turkish Army, attempted coup for overthrowing the elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the elected government of the Republic of Turkey. This attempt is the last of the ongoing military coup attempts in the country since the January 23, 1913 Ottoman Porte invasion. The coup attempt has been prevented by the resistance of the public and a civil resistance practice has been developed which will be an example both for Turkey and the world.
15 July coup attempt has been repelled through the courageous and determined resistance of the civilian political leadership, the media and the public for the first time among the history of coups of Turkey. 249 martyrs were given during the resistance; 2193 unarmed civilians were injured by heavy weapons attacks.
Right after the coup attempt, the citizens gathered in city squares and demonstrated the most important civilian protest and resistance of world democracy history with their democracy watches. July 15th resistance and democracy victory has become the beginning of a new area for military interventions and history of coups which are chronic in the world. The acceptance of the military coup and the will to accept the fate have been prevented by the government's official institutions, the wisdom of media and the public's actions encouraged by the media. July 15th Resistance is considered as a democratic method of struggle that must be taken as an example by all the countries of the world, especially the underdeveloped or developing countries that are at the mercy of the established global order.
The evaluation of the effects of 15 July in global scale, the evaluation of the military coup tradition within the framework of participatory full democracy in Turkey and the world, the analysis of media's role, the determination of the orienting factors of today's military coups, the analysis of the effects of different foreign policy makers on the countries where the coup is held are important to predict the necessary actions to be taken in order to prevent attempts.
As well as the invited spokesmen consisting of statesmen, scientists, opinion leaders and media members, the declarations from national and international academic community shall be accepted. The symposium will be in Turkish and English and the declarations to be sent from each three languages, shall be taken for evaluation.
