How the Internet Saved Turkey’s Internet-Hating President:
As the camera focused on the iPhone in the anchor’s hand, the president called on the people of Turkey to take to the streets and guard the airports. But this couldn’t happen by itself. People would need WhatsApp, Twitter and other tools on their phones to mobilize. The president also tweeted out the call to his more than eight million followers to resist the coup. […]
By the time Mr. Erdogan’s plane landed in Istanbul, some five hours after the coup attempt began, #darbeyehayir (“No to the coup”) had been trending on Twitter for hours. Thousands of people were already at the airport to greet the president and more were on the way.
Only three years ago, I was at the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, breathing tear gas and listening to Mr. Erdogan, then the prime minister, call Twitter “the worst menace to society,” after protesters used it to organize their demonstrations against authoritarianism, censorship and police brutality.