CHP leader to deliver speech at July 15 ceremony

Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), will attend the July 15 ceremony on Friday night, and the party’s leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will deliver a speech at parliament, CHP spokesman Bülent Tezcan said.

Veli Ağbaba, deputy leader of CHP earlier today said they would not attend the ceremony being held at parliament.

The ceremony held in parliament will commemorate the first anniversary of the resistance of the July 15 coup attempt.

A total of 249 people were martyred and nearly 2,200 injured in the July 15 failed coup which was perpetrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), led by ringleader Fetullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.

Gülen pursued a long-running campaign to overthrow the Turkish government through the infiltration of state institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.