Journalists recall media’s view of Turkey’s failed coup

By Sahin Oktay, Emre Ayvaz and Ibrahim Yozoglu

KOCAELİ, Turkey

Prominent journalists from several media organizations in Turkey on Thursday recounted the attitude of Turkish and foreign media on the night of the July 15 defeated coup.

Some of the foreign media had launched a perception campaign against Turkey at the beginning of the deadly night, according to Fatih Er, news director of public broadcaster TRT World.

Er was speaking at the Kartepe Summit’s media session titled ‘The Longest Night of Media: July 15’.

He said a huge number of anti-Turkey tweets that night and CNN International reporting on its news ticker that "Soldiers take control of authority in Turkey" marked the beginning of the international media’s perception management campaign.

The Kartepe Summit, titled ‘International Symposium on July 15 and Coups D'etat - Global Impacts, Media and Democracy’, is hosted by Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality with Anadolu Agency the summit’s global communication partner.

The coup attempt on July 15, 2016 was defeated by a comprehensive resistance by the Turkish people, who took to the streets following a call from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A total of 250 people were martyred and over 2,200 others were injured on the night of the deadly coup, which was orchestrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen.

Er noted that the latest news and videos of the public's resistance shared by Anadolu Agency had broken the international media's perception management campaign against the Turkish government.

Journalist Nedim Sener said no one should take advantage of the July 15 defeated coup and it should be explained “in a very accurate and objective way”.

Turkish private broadcaster NTV’s program presenter, Oguz Haksever, said Turkish media broadcasted news stories in a straightforward manner and based on fundamental principles.

The media has fueled anti-coup awareness in society, he added.

The Turkish ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s Deputy Chairman, Ravza Kavakci Kan, distinguished the July 15 defeated coup from other coups in Turkey because of the attitude of the Turkish nation.

“What distinguishes the July 15 [defeated] coup from the others is that the Turkish people and the nation came together and were integrated. The nation supported the President and said 'stop' to the coup plotters, to those who wanted to take our democracy from us,” she said.