A Coup Attempt Roils Turkey, And Social Media Takes Center Stage

  1. Home
  2. Politics
By Emily Zanotti | 10:51 pm, July 15, 2016
Read More

Friday afternoon, a military coup roiled Istanbul as some Turkish armed forces attempted to overthrow Turkey’s strongman President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Air Force jets flew low over Ankara, and supporters of Erdogan took to the streets to protest and to document the military’s attempt to take control. Late Friday evening, Erdogan, who had been out of the country on vacation, returned to Istanbul airport and gave a press conference on the tarmac, declaring the coup failed.

The reasons behind the coup aren’t immediately clear, but in Turkey, unlike in other countries, the military does not serve the Turkish President but rather sees itself as a defender of the country’s founding ideals.

But with most media out and the President in hiding, information was hard to come by. CNN’s expansive Turkish operation, for example, was in a building stormed by military leaders, who interrupted a live broadcast.

Even the President, who could not get to a phone line, used Facetime and social media to communicate to his constituents during the coup.

Residents of Istanbul and others on the ground were able to communicate to the outside world using Facebook and Twitter, depicting their plight with cell phone cameras and live video feeds.

Social networks, especially Twitter and Periscope became indispensable as citizens took to the streets.

The military quickly tried to shut down social media, but American tech media jumped to the rescue, providing detailed instructions on how to bypass the social media ban and resume broadcasting using Google’s public DNS, peer-to-peer messaging and alternate social media applications.

Citizens were then able to document the military force as it attempted to enforce martial law.

And the civilian response – on both sides.

They captured the Turkish Parliament being bombed.

They documented the damage on city streets.

By late Friday evening, Internet has still not been restored, but the coup appears to be losing steam. CNN, at least, has resumed broadcasting as normal.

The White House and the Presidential candidates also used social media to deliver their thoughts on the situation in Turkey.

Secretary of State John Kerry:

President Obama:

And Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton:

Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump has not yet weighed in.

 

 

Advertisement