Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call to the people through television channels to take to the streets against the coup plotters was seen by Syrian brothers Omar Khalid and Hassan Darwisha as an “issue of justice, freedom, humanitarianism not just about the Turks,” pushing them to participate in the demonstrations, “in fulfillment of the great debt the Syrians owe Turkey.”
Omar, 21, was not spared from the fire of the coup plotters as he rallied alongside the Turks to defend freedom and democracy in meeting Erdogan’s calls amid an atmosphere “resembling the beginning of the Syrian revolution,” as his brother Hassan described it.
Hassan said that his brother Omar was seriously wounded when soldiers of the coup opened fire on protesters in front of the Istanbul municipality building on the night of June 15. He fell into a coma and hasn’t woken since.
Hassan said: “We went to the area where the security directorate is in the Fatih district to see what was going on that night, and then we walked with a crowd of Turkish citizens who were heading toward the Istanbul municipality headquarters in the same district. We were surprised by a group of soldiers surrounding the building entirely when they opened fire on the crowd.”
Hassan added that the soldiers tried to break up the protesters by firing at them, which wounded a number of people, but they failed to end the demonstration.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
