Four political parties at the parliament have condemned the coup attempt in Turkey, which started on July 15 and suppressed early on July 16, in a rare joint statement read out at the general assembly.

“We the groups of four parties strongly condemn the coup attempt against our mighty nation, the national will the state, and lawmakers and parliament as its reflection, and the attacks on the parliament itself,” the statement read out by the Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman said.

“The Turkish parliament is on duty as one heart,” it read, naming the statement itself “historic,” in terms of highlighting unity.

“Despite our political differences, we are beside the national will, we embrace it and we will embrace it forever with all our lawmakers and organizations,”

The determination in parliament will also contribute in development and settlement of democracy in the country, it also said.

The representatives of the four parties, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) delivered speeches before the declaration.

Cooperation between Turkey’s political parties will get a “new start” in the wake of the defeated coup attempt, Prime Minister and AKP leader Binali Yıldırım said, promising that the usually fractious four main parties could find common ground.

Yıldırım, speaking in parliament, also said the coup plotters were not soldiers but terrorists who had targeted the parliament.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu denounced the failed coup attempt by a faction of the military, and said its defeat brought political parties closer to finding common ground to improve democracy.

HDP parliament group deputy chair İdris Baluken said Turkey should solve its main problems, starting with the Kurdish issue.

MHP leader Bahçeli said punishing the coup attempters is a “matter of honor.”

www.hurriyetdailynews.com