Hours after the attempted coup began, Turkey's defiant president Tayyip Erdogan appealed to the supporters to take to streets and confront the rebels. He addressed the nation from a smartphone and not from the back of a tank.
This affected the supporters so much so that they wrapped themselves in the national colours to celebrate the thwarting of the coup.
“This is not a 12-hour affair,” Erdogan told his followers, urging them to stay out on the streets. For the ruling AKP, it was a time to celebrate.
It was an extraordinary moment which tells why Erdogan is still in power, and why thousands of soldiers are now behind the bars.
By last night, more than 6,000 members of the armed forces and the judiciary – all of them suspected supporters of the attempted putsch had been arrested. At a rally, Erdogan supporters demanded execution of coup leaders to which the President assured them of considering a proposal to bring back the death penalty.
The crowd was agitated as the coup had inflicted a lot of human and material loss that night. Some 265 people were killed in the chaos of July 15 night, while a number of government buildings, notably in Ankara, were extensively damaged.
The coup failed for a number of reasons, the main among them being broader military support and failure of gaining public and political support. They also failed in how to get their message across.
The coup seemed a success initially when rebel troops sealed off Istanbul's bridges over the Bosphorus, surrounded the city's Ataturk airport, stationed tanks outside the presidential palace in Ankara and raided major news organisations but they failed to understand the significance of social media.
While journalists made last minute broadcasting and statements on social media showing their support to help democracy, it was Erdogan's message that proved most important and which, combined with similar statements from other senior Turkish politicians, showed the country's democratic leadership was safe and well.
Till the time Erdogan flew back to Istanbul, thousands had defied the curfew, lying down in front of tanks to halt their movement.
Even if coup organisers had controlled traditional media, they could not stop people accessing news on social media and messaging platforms.
There was a two-hour period of social media throttling during the uprising but no full internet blackout probably because it worked as an advantage for government.
Erdogan even sent a nationwide text out asking people to stand up for democracy, a trick lost on the faction responsible.
The coup plotters clearly used pre internet rules to take over the government While they needed something more modern and tech-savy.
The biggest irony of the situation was that Erdogan’s government was saved by the same tool which came under attack under his rule.
Erdogan once vowed to "wipe out" Twitter, after the platform helped mobilise mass protests in 2013.
This affected the supporters so much so that they wrapped themselves in the national colours to celebrate the thwarting of the coup.
“This is not a 12-hour affair,” Erdogan told his followers, urging them to stay out on the streets. For the ruling AKP, it was a time to celebrate.
It was an extraordinary moment which tells why Erdogan is still in power, and why thousands of soldiers are now behind the bars.
By last night, more than 6,000 members of the armed forces and the judiciary – all of them suspected supporters of the attempted putsch had been arrested. At a rally, Erdogan supporters demanded execution of coup leaders to which the President assured them of considering a proposal to bring back the death penalty.
The crowd was agitated as the coup had inflicted a lot of human and material loss that night. Some 265 people were killed in the chaos of July 15 night, while a number of government buildings, notably in Ankara, were extensively damaged.
The coup failed for a number of reasons, the main among them being broader military support and failure of gaining public and political support. They also failed in how to get their message across.
The coup seemed a success initially when rebel troops sealed off Istanbul's bridges over the Bosphorus, surrounded the city's Ataturk airport, stationed tanks outside the presidential palace in Ankara and raided major news organisations but they failed to understand the significance of social media.
While journalists made last minute broadcasting and statements on social media showing their support to help democracy, it was Erdogan's message that proved most important and which, combined with similar statements from other senior Turkish politicians, showed the country's democratic leadership was safe and well.
Till the time Erdogan flew back to Istanbul, thousands had defied the curfew, lying down in front of tanks to halt their movement.
Even if coup organisers had controlled traditional media, they could not stop people accessing news on social media and messaging platforms.
There was a two-hour period of social media throttling during the uprising but no full internet blackout probably because it worked as an advantage for government.
Erdogan even sent a nationwide text out asking people to stand up for democracy, a trick lost on the faction responsible.
The coup plotters clearly used pre internet rules to take over the government While they needed something more modern and tech-savy.
The biggest irony of the situation was that Erdogan’s government was saved by the same tool which came under attack under his rule.
Erdogan once vowed to "wipe out" Twitter, after the platform helped mobilise mass protests in 2013.