ISTANBUL

Social media played a crucial role in the defeat of the defeated 2016 coup in Turkey, according to the director-general of Anadolu Agency, Turkey’s top news source.

Addressing a panel to discuss the defeated July 15, 2016 coup attempt by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), Serdar Karagoz discussed the role of social media in the victory of the Turkish government and people as well as coverage by the international media.

Noting that the putschists initially attempted to take over national broadcaster TRT and communications satellite operator TURKSAT, Karagoz said that the Turkish people, spurred by a call from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, effectively used social media to counter and eventually help defeat the coup attempt.

On the other hand, the reactions of the international media and global ruling elites were determined by a “power balance,” he said.

“For a second, let’s imagine that the coup attempt had been successful,” said Karagoz.

“The (international) headlines wouldn’t have been different than the ones used for the (2013) coup in Egypt.”

Also touching on the response of international organizations and world powers to the defeated coup, Karagoz stressed that the international media’s policy was in line with international establishment elites.

At first, “while the US administration was overtly trying to legitimize the coup attempt, American media acted in parallel with the administration,” he said.

However, the ruling elites changed course when they saw that the coup attempt was being defeated, and the international media followed suit, Karagoz said.

On the stances of international organizations during the night of July 15, he argued that the NATO military bloc – which Turkey is a longtime member of – took a balanced approach, while the EU failed.

Until Turkish people took to the streets against the putschists, the European Union was quiet, Karagoz said.

Turkish leaders have criticized the EU’s habit of trying to “lecture” Ankara on democracy while failing to take a clear stance against anti-democratic forces that threatened Turkey.

Yet that night, he added, the Turkish diaspora in Europe along with the Arab and Pakistani diasporas took to the streets against the coup attempt.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the 2016 defeated coup, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 wounded.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

​​​​​​​*Writing by Ahmet Gencturk​​​​​​​