President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hates Twitter, but he survived a coup attempt in part by using social networks to urge his supporters to take to the streets.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, remains in power on Saturday after quelling an attempted coup by military officers who seized control of state television the night before, and then proceeded to shell the parliament in Ankara, deploy troops on major bridges in Istanbul, and put tanks on the streets of both cities.
BREAKING — Group attempting to stage a coup seizes state broadcaster TRT pic.twitter.com/1jtznd8p7K
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) July 15, 2016
CCTV footage of TRT World being taken off air by armed soldiers during the #failedcoup attempthttps://t.co/vCpKjxn5DM
— TRT World (@trtworld) July 17, 2016
BREAKING Coup leaders claim that they take over the govt, air the statement on state TV. pic.twitter.com/tpK1UJwRXX
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 15, 2016
#Turkish jets bombing it's own Parliament happening right now in #Turkey #Ankara. #MilitaryCoup pic.twitter.com/X4RVz89BYG
— Hamosh (@Hamosh84) July 16, 2016
Turkish soldiers block both bridges on the Bosphorus in Istanbul and jets flying low in Ankara. Reason not clear yet pic.twitter.com/tMG7KKYvGh
— Selin Girit (@selingirit) July 15, 2016
?STANBUL-BAYRAMPA?A ?UAN pic.twitter.com/AhjuOTA5Kl
— HZ. ENES (@Ayyinemikeder) July 15, 2016
While Erdogan has many critics, and has cracked down on dissent in the streets, in parliament, and on social networks, there was no evidence of popular support for the attempted coup — even from those who have protested against Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, known by the Turkish acronym AKP.
I protested erdo?an during gezi. I was tear gassed by his police. I think akp is trash. but I support them against a fascist military coup.
— elif fât?ma ????? (@eelifgorken) July 15, 2016
Opposition lawmakers, who sheltered in a bunker with members of the ruling party after the parliament was bombed during a debate, were quick to denounce the attempted coup.
Chaos in Turkish parliament as explosion heard. pic.twitter.com/Ty75Q9mG8U
— Gilgo (@agirecudi) July 16, 2016
TBMM s???na??nday?z; 10 dakika oldu bomba sesi yok... pic.twitter.com/mVb1HpSdEt
— Mehmet Bekaro?lu (@MBekaroglu) July 16, 2016
The united opposition of Turks to the coup against Erdogan and his ruling Islamist party stood in marked contrast to comments from some Americans expressing support for the attempt to force an elected leader from power.
Lt. Col. Peters on #Turkey: "If the coup succeeds, Islamists lose and we win." #OReillyFactor pic.twitter.com/H7LDPTnhKr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 16, 2016
After Brad Sherman, a Democratic congressman from California, suggested that a coup could bring about “real democracy,” Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, Serdar Kilic, replied: “You should be ashamed of yourself for supporting a coup attempt and expecting democracy out of it.”
Military takeover in Turkey will hopefully lead to real democracy - not Erdogan Authoritarianism
— Brad Sherman (@BradSherman) July 15, 2016
The public mood late on Friday was perhaps best summed up in a Snapchat video of tanks driving by an outdoor cafe on Bagdat Avenue in Istanbul, captioned with an emoji expressing alarm and the words, “ne oluyor,” or, “what is happening?”
Bagdat caddesi, Fenerbahce'nin önünden paletli tanklar geciyor. pic.twitter.com/x8GQqdL0x8
— Ahmet STARKG?L. (@yanmasadakigenc) July 15, 2016
The plotters failed, despite following a script that might have succeeded in the 20th century, in part because Erdogan was able to rally support for democratic rule using 21st century tools: video chat and social media.
After the officers claimed control of the country in a statement they forced a presenter to read on TRT, the state broadcaster, the country’s internet and phone networks remained out of their control. That allowed Erdogan to improvise an address to the nation in a FaceTime call to CNN Turk, a private broadcaster the military only managed to force off the air later in the night, as the coup unraveled. In his remarks, the president called on people to take to the streets.
BREAKING Turkish President Erdo?an blames #Gulenist network & calls on public to go to public squares and airports. pic.twitter.com/vmQlYLyv35
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 15, 2016
Cumhurba?kan? Erdo?an CNN TÜRK'e aç?klama yapt?https://t.co/C0EYdmeAz6 https://t.co/IHVrhCBVEB
— CNN Türk (@cnnturk) July 15, 2016
Turkish president invites citizens to take to street in wake of military coup attempt pic.twitter.com/0epadOZvQY
— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) July 15, 2016
Given that Erdogan’s government has shuttered privately owned television news channels that have been critical of him in the past year, he had reason to be thankful that CNN’s Turkish outlet was still on the air when he needed it.
The channel has not, however, been known as an enthusiastic supporter of Erdogan’s critics. When protesters took to the streets against his government in 2013, CNN Turk was widely mocked for broadcasting a documentary about penguins instead of live reports on the dramatic events unfolding live in Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
Medya Sansuru: CNN vs. CNNTurk | #occupygezi pic.twitter.com/PRSRAx1T07
— Pajovsky (@GurbetName) June 3, 2013
Minutes later, the president repeated his plea for protesters to defend democracy on his own Twitter feed.
Milletimizi demokrasimize ve milli iradeye sahip ç?kmak üzere meydanlara, havalimanlar?na davet ediyorum.
— Recep Tayyip Erdo?an (@RT_Erdogan) July 15, 2016
Of course, having an iPhone and access to the internet is not alone enough to foil a coup — if it were, Mohamed Morsi would still be Egypt’s president, since he posted a similar plea for support on the presidency’s YouTube channel as he was being deposed in 2013. In that case, however, the coup was welcomed by millions of anti-government protesters, and the military was united and ruthless enough to massacre dissenters who took to the streets.
As TRT’s English-language channel explained later in an account of the night’s events produced after the coup failed, Erdogan’s call for protesters to flood the nation’s squares and airports to resist the putsch was heeded by his supporters.
Resistance to the coup was also encouraged by vivid images on social networks of abuses by the military forces, including distressing video clips of a helicopter gunship firing at civilians and fighter jets swooping low over Istanbul.
Çekilen bir videoda, insanlar?n üzerine ate? aç?ld??? görülüyor. pic.twitter.com/d7LfagPsRc
— 140journos (@140journos) July 15, 2016
ATV yay?n?na yans?yan görüntülerde insanlar?n üzerine ate? aç?ld??? görülüyor. pic.twitter.com/0zMcNaHHV3
— 140journos (@140journos) July 16, 2016
Fighter jets fly low above our head in downtown Istanbul and apparently hit targets.
— Mustafa Akyol (@AkyolinEnglish) July 16, 2016
Woe onto the bandits in uniform that caused this.
There was also extremely graphic video of a tank running over protesters in Istanbul, leaving many crushed beyond recognition.
While some major television channels were barred from broadcasting, Turkish journalists managed to streamed live video of the anti-coup protests using Facebook and Periscope.
https://t.co/Rm73BlgQNd pic.twitter.com/uTHO83mkRH
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) July 15, 2016
ICYMI: @OzKaterji's Facebook Live video from Taksim Square: https://t.co/g3osauz8zs pic.twitter.com/eVmU4Nt8OJ
— Jonathan Groves (@grovesprof) July 16, 2016
sabah 4 ataturk havaalani onunde yakaladigimiz icinden 6 er 2 rutbeli 8 askerin linc edilerek cikarilmasi https://t.co/OvXKWzAo0m
— ahmet hasdemir (@HasdemirAhmet) July 16, 2016
As the coup faltered, images began to appear of civilians swarming tanks and soldiers surrendering or being arrested by police officers who remained loyal to the government.
A man lies in front of a Turkish army tank at Ataturk airport in Istanbul via @reuterspictures pic.twitter.com/HaecVOqMWJ
— Noah Barkin (@noahbarkin) July 15, 2016
Gaziantep now thousands take to the streets rejection military coup on Turkish government #Turkey pic.twitter.com/2JqBI0fOIB
— Rami Jarrah (@RamiJarrah) July 16, 2016
Earlier in Taksim. I talked to the shirtless man. He blamed this on Gulen and wants Erdogan as leader for 100 years pic.twitter.com/70v9MK7MTb
— Teymour (@Teymour_Ashkan) July 16, 2016
#Turkey crazy video showing civilians taking over a tank and coup soldier firing shot against them in #Istanbul pic.twitter.com/9OkBGNqod0
— Putintintin (@putintintin1) July 15, 2016
Video from @140journos shows a tank crushing a car in Turkey as people get out of the way pic.twitter.com/CzBXu3Tkez
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) July 16, 2016
BA?CILAR KANAL D B?NASI ( ANLIK ) pic.twitter.com/DAy1T9fyYw
— mert (@esmerbirbey) July 16, 2016
Taksim'deki askerler de teslim olmu?. Çok uzun sürmez bu i?... Soldiers in Taksim surrendered to police
— hONoUR (@Jakoben1789) July 16, 2016
https://t.co/jZXKJ8rlLj …#Turkey
When soldiers did belatedly arrive at CNN Turk and force the channel off the air, the station’s journalists, and a digital editor at Hurriyet, a newspaper in the same building, managed to report on the raid using Facebook and Twitter.
Hürriyet ve CNN Türk binas?n? basan askerler 05.10 sular?nda gözalt?na al?nd? https://t.co/WY2YcUZROA pic.twitter.com/2XZfPHV71i
— Hurriyet.com.tr (@Hurriyet) July 16, 2016
Sorry for the poor pic quality but it's hard when you are mass-arrested during a coup attempt... pic.twitter.com/TwUC6Yqi71
— Emre KIZILKAYA (@ekizilkaya) July 16, 2016
A short time later, when the soldiers there were arrested, that too was captured on video and reported online.
The moment that rogue soldiers were arrested at the Cnn Turk/Kanal D/Hurriyet complex. https://t.co/3mzrb6I56a
— Emre KIZILKAYA (@ekizilkaya) July 16, 2016
cnn'de darbecilere önce polis, sonra siviller müdahale etti pic.twitter.com/fiw5jVRC9v
— ismail saymaz (@ismailsaymaz) July 16, 2016
Zeynep Tufekci, a Turkish sociologist who studies the interaction between technology and protest movements, pointed out that Turks are particularly good at finding ways to use the internet to communicate in times of crisis because they have a lot of practice.
Internet is not down. Turkey info flows is very very resistant to throttling. We're practiced. https://t.co/NNjEj2Xi3V
— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) July 15, 2016
Restrictions on social networks in the country are common, and Erdogan himself blamed Twitter for popular resistance to his government’s crackdown on protests against the destruction of Gezi Park, a green space in the center of Istanbul, in 2013.
Turkish PM Erdo?an: "There is this curse called Twitter. It's all lies ... That thing called social media is the curse of society today."
— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) June 2, 2013
The irony of Erdogan now relying on social networks to rally protesters to his side was not lost on close observers.
How ironic that it was social media and technology that came to Erdogan's rescue.
— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) July 16, 2016
So now Erdogan needs protesters to save him. Fate is not without a sense of irony. #Turkey
— Daniel Ó C (@DanOCluanaigh) July 16, 2016
Looking back at the events of the past 24 hours, Bilge Ebiri, a Turkish-American film critic, expressed admiration for the courage of Erdogan’s political opponents, who resisted the coup despite the increasingly autocratic way he has attempted to centralize power.
They stand for democracy, even though they know it means the restoration of a President who will gut their constitution.
— Bilge Ebiri (@BilgeEbiri) July 16, 2016
A lot of people have commented that the Turkish coup-plotters were stupid for not taking out the head, Erdogan. But apparently they came close and the coup almost was successful, at least according to The Guardian:
Gavin Long, the cop-killer in Baton Rouge, was a mentally ill man who believed he was a “Targeted Individual,” and adhered to multiple other paranoid-crank ideas supported at myriad web sites. He’s not the first TI in the U.S. to go on a killing spree.
He also considered himself a “sovereign citizen” and was militantly anti-government, which dovetails well with the TI narrative.
Clearly this is a profound mental health issue, and an unprecedented challenge for mental health professionals — ill people have never before been able to network online and reinforce one another’s delusions. It’s past time to recognize this as a severe public health problem, one that is global. (TIs have had conventions in Germany and are active in Asia as well.)
Given the First Amendment here in the United States nothing can or should be doe about their web sites. But some response is indicated, I’m just not sure what.
@Mona
shorter Mona
I don’t care what you or Macroman think of me calling the new commenter Jessica “immoral and disgusting” for not recognizing the virulent racism driving brexit!!!!
Straight from the horse’s mouth; Mona does not care about other commenters. Her disrespect for others is at an all time high.
Anyone who cares about this person’s obsession with me, can go to the sub-thread here.
What’s with the abuse of this forum set up? You post something and are ejected from the forum and have to click your way back into it? Yes, There ‘is’ a forum. Thanks. But why have it set up like this? It’s not nice.
It sucks. We know. Everyone knows.
My theory is that Glenn doesn’t like us anymore and so he’s had the TI managers hire evil web techies to torment us. ;^)
There’s huge white spaces in between text here. What’s missing?
The coup in Saudi Arabia is becoming overdue. Historically, monarchies become unstable around the fourth generation. This monarchy is unlikely to last beyond Obama’s reign. Both Trump and Crooked are unlikely to keep it afloat. The low oil price and a resurgent Iran aren’t helping much. Turkeys are befriending Russia and getting soft towards Assad. We have secured all the Pak nukes. Very bad times, indeed. I am sure this coup has rattled Saudis more than anyone else.
lmao!! these bunch of cowboys started a revolution BEFORE killing the man in charge. I mean, how dumb can you get? From everything i have seen or read, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/assassination-plot-against-hitler-fails, the TRIGGER is the death of the leader. That is what the CIA has always know since the overthrow of Iran.
This video depicts in 5 secs what happened in Turkey.
Off-topic but relevant to the exchanges by and about “targeted individuals, below. This is from a Guardian piece about the apparent shooter who killed three Baton Rouge cops and wounded three others, earlier today:
This is a serious mental health problem, and the second mass shooting that I know of by a mentally unstable person who believes he’s a “Targeted Individual” — and enduring so-called gangstalking. It’s important to make clear that because of the national security/NSA topics this site covers it attracts quite a few of these unfortunate souls in comments, but they do not represent anything like the majority’s beliefs.
In fact, over a year ago when they hit a critical mass in thread after thread many were banned. Some have returned, and I hope they are able to comprehend they are not wanted here.
And I also hope they they will please, please get some mental health help.
You are indeed right as always. Pat B, E D and AmericanGestapo were the brigade commanders that you are referring to, and they possibly pre-date the arrival of your assistant Salzmann.
There is one character here who feels she’s the “target” of my non-existent insults, when I am actually very sweet towards her. Maybe you can advise her also?
It was actually Kitt who was as distressed as anyone when the TI’s began overtaking comments. He’s a long-timer in Glenn’s space, but comments rarely any more.
My heart bleeds for poor Kitt that he should suffer so. First, life was cruel to him by afflicting him with an ailment that was controlling his behavior. Then he was apparently hounded about and out by intolerant friends who could not suffer his presence.
That is life. Ask any BLM fellow.
Kitt is a sane, reasonable and extremely decent man who was justifiably disturbed by a huge outbreak of crazy in comments. I shared that great unease.
And as recent events make abundantly clear, these psychotic people can be dangerous. Decent people should neither host nor encourage them in their delusions.
You are as deluded as those “people”. You spend your days, nights, months, years, behind a computer telling the world how good it is to be Greenwald’s lapdog. Unless you are getting paid for your worshipping services no reasonable individual would believe your behavior is sane.
Right, my being Glenn’s former law partner and friend, and thus active online on the same issues he is, is just like being a person who believes cabals are remotely torturing him and that people outside the Starbucks he’s at are “gangstalking” him.
Your powers of analogy and perception are stupendous. [eyes rolling]
You know, General, you really contribute very little to these threads on your best days, and you seldom miss an opportunity to be mean-spirited, apparently just for the hell of it.
You should really consider just fucking stopping this ugly behavior — especially when we are dealing with the problem (for us and for them) of seriously disturbed people who really do need help.
Here at TI, nobody pre-dates my arrival (although, a number of regulars were around long before I dropped in, a couple of virtual venues ago). I posted the first comment to the site.
If you think I’m new, it’s probably because I stopped participating for some time, frustrated by the degraded quality of the BTL content and the increasingly prevalent nastiness, craziness and straightforward stupidity.
Kitt isn’t the only regular who is much less seen around here, these days. There is quite a long list of “some of the best people” who seem to find the forum less attractive than they did previously.
Sadly true. A core of us still are in touch on Twitter and by email. But the vibrancy of Glenn’s comments began to ebb when he went to the Guardian, and has deteriorated further here.
In part that’s because there was no place to go for months after Glenn left the Graun and before he started here, and then this site was sporadic at best in the beginning. That, and the commenting software is fucking awful, which many simply will not contend with.
“That, and the commenting software is fucking awful, which many simply will not contend with.”
Yeah, but there’s one commenter in particular who labels others as “demented, deranged, immoral, a far-right, authoritarian, racist bigot“.
The same commenter claims “No I didn’t” even when presented with the text of her attacks. She routinely tells commenters to “fuck off” even when they leave a comment not directed to her. She tells the board to “not bother reading” a particular commenter because she’s determined them to be antisemitic, (there’s no place for that here) or to be mentally ill (as she mirrors their behavior).
-Mona- goes into great detail to debunk CS but waves off a valid critique of her comments with “it’s too long”.
When confronted repeatedly with a single instance, documented by more than one commenter, of her attacking a new commenter with the label of “immoral, disgusting”, (on fucking Brexit but still centered on her obsession with virulent racism!). we get crickets …
Mona is a distracting to comment as the wretched liar Omooex ever was.
Just looked at an older article and what pops right out …
@Mona to the General
“Infesting”? That is an interesting choice of a word. The Nazis referred to Jews as vermin, cockroaches, etc. much as Israelis describe Palestinians today.
-Mona- attempts repeatedly to dehumanize commenters on this site.
Perhaps that is why the discourse on this site is so hit and miss.
This individual is obsessed with me. I address his myriad inanities in this sub-thread here, but decline to support his spamming the board with his idée fixe by replying substantively in this one.
Link: sub-thread here.
“and you seldom miss an opportunity to be mean-spirited, apparently just for the hell of it.”
Well Doug, it seems only you and Mona have failed to realize the snark in the General.
Today he’s much more on message. He nails Mona on lamenting the TI Takeover when SHE and no one else engaged the gangstalked – like her endless engagement of CS.
The distraction on this site is Mona attacking anyone who inflames her sense of justice. She hurls invective and pejorative like no one else; not skillfully or measured, as Glenn might.
Mona is herself, not a Glenn doppelganger. She has a different style. She can be harsh and stubborn and sometimes (IMHO) over the top. But she doesn’t engage in nastiness for its own sake; she simply doesn’t suffer fools gladly and is rather unrestrained in letting them know.
Given the flood of fools and foolishness we deal with here, a flood that threatens to drown the informed, thoughtful, intelligent exchanges in batshit-craziness and demonic nastiness, harsh responses are often (again, IMHO) entirely appropriate.
Beyond that, Mona is one of the most intelligent, articulate and thoughtful participants we have, not to mention that she is one of the best-informed and most skilfully analytical.
There’s a long list of distractions here, but Mona is not one of them (except when she can’t help herself and goes 15 rounds with Craig). Her other major fault, of course, is that she sometimes argues strenuously with me, which is futile, as I’m am almost always right. ;^)
” But she doesn’t engage in nastiness for its own sake; ”
-Mona- attempts repeatedly to dehumanize commenters on this site.
-Mona- rails against the mentally ill (beating up on the defenseless is rather despicable).
-Mona- states she has to “