Hero of July 15 coup bid speaks to Istanbul crowd

“We had our belief on our side, we kept on moving towards,” Orcun Sekercioglu, who lost his leg after being shot as he confronted rebellious troops, said. “My friends and I were hit by bullets. My brothers were shot.”

Sekercioglu compared the night to World War I’s Battle of Gallipoli, known as the Battle of Canakkale in Turkey. “It was a new Canakkale, a war of independence,” he said. “My friends were shot on my right and left but we kept on moving.”

Referring to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization accused of plotting the coup, he added: “The FETO members thought people would be afraid to take to streets, to resist, but all people -- Turks and Kurds -- were on the streets in solidarity.”

Sekercioglu was among nearly 2,200 injured in the coup attempt, which also left 240 people martyred.

Anadolu Agency