July 15 made history as the night of new beginnings in Turkey. Without any doubt, the most significant one amongst those beginnings was that for the first time ever in Turkish history the people displayed a comprehensive resistance against the coup attempt. Equally as impressive, however, was the reconstruction of media-military relations in one single night, the roots of which can be traced back over the last decade to the empowerment of civil politics against the tutelage of bureaucratic and military power in Turkish politics.
The Role that the Media Played in the Failure of the July 15 Coup Attempt
On the night of the July 15th coup attempt in Turkey both social and conventional media played important roles. Rather than inspiring and directing people, the Turkish media was used as a tool for communicating, motivating and disseminating reliable information throughout the world. This commentary aims to identify the media and military relations that characterized the July 15 case by examining the experience of the media outlets, the use of the media outlets they appealed to, as well as presenting an analysis of the media’s prevalent role in the history of Turkish coups.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks during an interview for Al Jazeera news channel in Ankara on July 20, 2016. This was the first interview President Erdoğan gave to an international channel after the coup attempt. AA PHOTO / MURAT ÇETİNMÜHÜRDA
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