On 15 July 2016, a report began spreading that Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge, joining Europe and Asia together, has been obstructed by military personnel with tanks. First, it was rumoured that the bridge might have been closed because of intelligence suggesting a terror attack was underway. Yet soon it was found out that the reason why the tanks were there, was not due to such intelligence but a coup attempt launched by a renegade clique in the army. The coup plotters are allegedly part of FETO, also known as the “parallel structure” or the “parallel state”, which is a clique led by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen that has infiltrated important offices in the state and is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey.

Tanks roamed the streets. The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), the Turkish state channel, was occupied by coup plotters and an anchorwoman was forced to read out an unlawful declaration live. Turkey’s Grand National Assembly was bombed by jets for the first time in its history. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escaped death by minutes. 208 people, 145 of which were civilians, were killed and 1,491 wounded in the last four days. All the while, the international media mostly backed this bloody story -- sometimes blatantly, sometimes rather tacitly. At best, they rejected the coup attempt but went on to question whether the government brought it on itself or is worthy of support now. Here is a list of the examples:

1)      The Economist described how the coup attempt in Turkey could be successful.

2)      Reuters made a news story in which terror organization leader Gulen claimed the coup is "staged."

3)      Andrew Finkel wrote in The Guardian that "Turkey was already undergoing a slow-motion coup – by Erdogan, not the army."

4)      Ralph Peters said on Fox News that "If the coup succeeds, Islamists lose and we win."

5)      Ben Shapiro tweeted that overthrowing Erdogan in Turkey "would be a boon to the world and the population."

6)      Michael Rubin wrote in New York Post that “the coup in Turkey could mean hope.”

7)      Foreign Policy published an article by Michael Rubin titled "Erdogan has nobody to blame for the coup but himself."

8)      Former CIA officials gave Turkish coup plotters advice on CNN.

9)      On 24 March 16, Newsweek published Michael Rubin’s article calling for coup and tweeted it again during the coup attempt in Turkey.

10)   Green Party Chair Cem Oezdemir on Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung categorized Erdogan’s struggle against the coup attempt as “civilian coup.”