The night of July 15th gives us a glorious page in the history book of civil victories. It was the night when the largest and most successful civil movement of modern times took place. On the dark night of the coup attempt, Turkish people stood up in defiance and defended their democracy. Undeterred by jets dropping bombs on them, helicopters raining down bullets, tanks plowing into crowds, soldiers executing people on the spot and the sniper attacks, they stood defiant and didn’t give up. Ever since that night, millions of Turkish people from all walks of life covering the whole of the political spectrum, regardless of their differences in their ethnic origins and faiths, have continued with the same resilience and have been standing guard for their country in the squares of Turkey, waving flags in their hands.
Our people, in their admirable stand, are expecting the support of their foreign friends. They wish to see democracy advocates, anti-coup figures, human rights activists, peace corps, and doctors/attorneys without borders from all around the world, by their side. They wish to see that their friends do actually side with democracy, with human rights and justice.
Regrettably, certain international media groups continue to fail this test of sincerity every passing day. Since the first moment of the coup attempt, the world has been swarmed with ill-disposed comments and disinformation. From those foreign sources, who posted the confidential destination point of the Turkish President’s jet on foreign TV channels and social media accounts, when it should have been strictly kept a secret, to those who said that the coup was their last hope, from the ones attempting to belittle the resistance of our people to those who offered clear support to the coup, the picture has been disturbing. The Turkish media on the other hand, without exception, has condemned this dark coup, standing unconditionally by the state and people. Yet, apparently certain international media groups took it upon themselves to launch a smear campaign. Now, let’s briefly take a look at how those Western media groups displayed this double standard:
As soon as the coup attempt started, some foreign news outlets began to spread the news that the coup had succeeded. One famous British news outlet introduced the coup as an uprising and portrayed it as an incident where two groups in the society were clashing, just like they had in Egypt. Even when it became clear that the coup had failed, that certain outlet continued to claim otherwise.
As the news of the coup attempt began to spread, certain British, German and US news outlets began to produce disinformation through their Twitter accounts. According to these outlets, President Erdogan was seeking asylum in Europe. Some journalists took this so far that these sources even claimed that Germany turned down this request. One US TV channel claimed that their source was a senior Pentagon officer. Another British newspaper claimed that Erdoğan was trying to flee the country on a private jet. Other mainstream media outlets were spreading false news that the Turkish President had already arrived in Germany. One French channel covered a few coup supporters’ tweets as news in an attempt to create an image that the Turkish people were supporting the coup. All of these news bytes were intended to shift the psychological balance in favor of the coup plotters. At the same time, another mainstream news outlet caused a scandal by claiming that if the coup failed, the Islamists would win and the West would lose. All these news reports were aiming to turn the tables of psychological superiority of the night of the coup attempt, in favor of the coup plotters.
When it became certain that the coup plotters failed, those media outlets came up with new headlines. Almost all Western media outlets started saying in unison that President Erdogan was behind this failed attempt. While almost all TV channels in Turkey were showing civilians being martyred by coup plotter soldiers, those news outlets preferred to cover the news with a picture where a soldier was seen being manhandled by three people. Undoubtedly, these images of manhandling and lynch could by no means be regarded as acceptable. In fact Turkish people do lovingly embrace our soldiers and are very well aware of the fact that these coup plotter villains are nowhere near the same with our soldiers. The only picture they used was one taken on the Bosphorus Bridge where more than 40 civilians had been martyred by the coup plotters with bullets and the artillery shooting of their tanks. For some reason, those media outlets didn’t mention one word about these unarmed people who were brutally massacred there.
Within the next 24 hours, it became clear that the coup was not a play at all and was indeed one of the bloodiest nights in recent years. Once again, those media outlets preferred not to mention the millions of people that defied the bloody coup. The TV commentators almost never talked about those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of God to save their country, their state and democracy.
Today, these media sources continue to portray a scene of disaster. For some reason, they consistently avoid covering news about the peaceful, calm and anti-violent stand of the civilians on the streets. They prefer to focus on stories of so-called dictatorship, instead of trying to understand the coup attempt, condemning the coup mentality, inquiring who might be behind it or uncovering its international connections. Certain Western mainstream media outlets continue to make the same comments with different headings.
The Western world should abandon its policy of trying to show Turkey as being in a downward spiral; it should stop supporting the horrible coup mentality and instead support Turkey in its efforts to enlighten the world about this whole incident. An unstable Turkey would not be in their best interests, either. In any case, this is not Turkey’s destiny.
Based on the legal evidence obtained, the Turkish administration believes that an organized cadre who managed to infiltrate various government agencies is behind this coup. Those who have been removed from their duties after the attempt are not dissidents but alleged associates of the mafia-like group behind the coup attempt. Every journalist that has even a little knowledge about Turkey is well aware of this fact. One British newspaper portrayed the coup plotters as a group of unhappy soldiers. The truth is, that group has tens of thousands of supporters, who managed to obtain key positions in the administration as part of a 40-year old plan that they hoped would end in a coup.
The danger is thwarted. However, as explained before, we expect to see joyful celebrations in the West. We expect them to be happy because the democracy has won. It should be remembered that the two sides that battled on the streets on the night of July 15th were innocent people seeking to protect their democracy and country and an armed organization seeking to take over law and order using weapons and intimidation. If the Western world chooses to side with treachery instead of democracy, the harm they will inflict on democracy will eventually backfire. We hope that they will realize this before it’s too late.
Those wishing to understand what really happened in Turkey that night should see the Turkish media and amateur footage posted on YouTube and Video blogs. These horrible scenes will be more than enough to show the monstrosity of the night and the deranged mentality of the coup plotters. They are also perfect testaments to the fact that no coup plotter can ever be successful in Turkey as long as the people stand up to it.
Today is the day for civil solidarity. The world cannot afford an unstable Turkey or a Turkey grappling with civil war. It is a requirement of humanity to show necessary and well-deserved respect to the beautiful defiance of 250 martyrs and the 1,500 who were wounded.
Adnan Oktar's piece in The Daily Star & Daily Mail:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2016/Aug-01/364888-is-global-media-on-the-side-of-democracy.ashx
http://dailymailnews.com/2016/08/13/is-global-media-on-the-side-of-democracy/
