Introduction
July 15, 2016, witnessed the uprising of the Turkish people against an unexpected coup attempt by a junta (group of military officers in the army) loyal to FETÖ.1 The incident can be described as a deep social trauma in Turkey that created “a profound lack of confidence towards public institutions and religious communities,” because this organization was mainly known as a religious sect having activities in education; however, it was realized that they created a “shadow state structure by penetrating into the military, the security sector, the judiciary, the national intelligence organization, and the state bureaucracy…”2 The coup attempt resulted in 248 civilian deaths, more than 2,000 injuries, widespread property damage, and financial catastrophe. Across the world, news broadcasts and media outlets announced this sudden event in their headlines for several days. While it was undoubtedly a trauma, the coup attempt was also a milestone for Turkish democracy; unarmed people ran out onto the streets to rise up against the military, and many sacrificed their lives for the maintenance of their country, their democracy, and their democratically elected government. For the first time in Turkish and world history, millions of people, whether they supported the incumbent political party or not, took to the streets to personally defend their country and their system of government against the coup plotters.
