An Abuja-based NGO, Ufuk Dialogue Foundation, on Tuesday in Abuja condemned the recent military coup attempt in Turkey.
Ufuk Dialogue, a Turkish group, promotes culture of co-existence, mutual understanding and establishes a common platform that aims at information and opinion exchange.
Mr Kamil Kemanci, President of the Foundation, who made the remark while addressing newsmen on development in Turkey, said there was no place for military intervention in democracy.
The aborted coup which occurred on July 15 was staged by a group of rebel army officers within the Turkish military which resulted to the death of over 100 people.
He said that the attempted coup to overthrow the Turkish Government was an act of military aggression and injustice, which was against the philosophy that Ufuk stood for.
“ We in Ufuk dialogue, strongly condemn the attempted military coup that occurred in Turkey and reiterate that there was no place for military intervention in democracy.
“ We have always supported the development of Turkey’s democracy, despite the increasing anti-democratic practices in recent years.
“ Ufuk promotes Hizmet Movement (Gulen Movement) philosophy which has advocated and demonstrated commitment to peace and democracy for 40 years,’’ Kemanci said.
He said that the foundation had consistently denounced military intervention in domestic politics, adding that democracy, rule of law, peaceful coexistence and human rights were the core values of Hizmet participant.
According to him, Mr Fethullah Gulen, inspirer of Hizmet movement, has always advocated for democracy and insisted that there is no u-turn from democracy at every stage of his life.
Kemanci expressed hope that Turkey would overcome the difficult days it was passing through and “take the sad incident as an opportunity to strengthen its democracy.
On his part, the Managing Director of the foundation, Mr Cemal Yigit, said that the stand of Ufuk was that the worst civilian administration was better than the best military regime.
He urged the Turkey government and the International community to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the aborted coup and bring the perpetrators to justice.
