Mother of July 15 hero dies aged 69

By Betel Abbak, Burcu Calik and Mehmet Tosun

NIGDE, Turkey

The mother of a Turkish army member martyred during the July 15 coup attempt died late Thursday of a suspected heart attack in the Anatolian province of Nigde. She was 69.

Fadimana Halisdemir, mother of Sergeant Omer Halisdemir, passed away at a hospital named after his son after being hospitalized in a state of cardiac arrest, Governor Ertan Peynircioglu told reporters.

"A cardiac massage was performed manually and with the help of a medical device for an hour, but she could not be resuscitated,” Peynircioglu said. “May Allah have mercy on her soul.”

A funeral service will be held on Friday in Cukurkuyu town of Bor district, where she will be buried next to her son.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has extended his condolences to the family in a phone call to husband Hasan Huseyin Halisdemir, according to presidential sources.

Defense Minister Fikri Isik wrote on Twitter: "The precious mother of our martyr, our hero Omer Halisdemir, Fadimana Halisdemir breathed her last on a holy night. May Allah have mercy on her soul."

Isik was referring to Regaip Kandili, one of the holy nights on the Muslim calendar.

Turkish Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya also expressed her condolences in a message on the micro-blogging website.

Sgt. Halisdemir became the symbol of the Turkish nation's resistance against the coup attempt after fatally shooting Brig. Gen. Semih Terzi, one of the coup leaders. The incident is referred to as a watershed moment in the events of that night.

The July 15 failed coup left 249 people martyred and some 2,200 injured, in a series of attacks that pitted soldiers armed with artillery, tanks and military aircraft against civilians and law enforcement officers.

July 15 also witnessed the bombing of the Turkish parliament -- unprecedented in modern Turkey's history.

Ankara has accused the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) of orchestrating the defeated putsch.