ISLAMISTS ARE DEMOCRATS; SECULARS AUTHORITARIAN:

On Friday, July 15, in the throes of Turkey's deep crisis which left international media befuddled by who was truly in power, numerous Egyptian media outlets jumped the gun in their reportage. They prematurely declared that the attempted coup had ended in success, heralding the Turkish army's control over the country and overthrow of President Erdogan.

Within hours of the start of the attempted coup, these outlets exposed their unprofessionalism by falling prey to propaganda. Despite confirmed news sources proving that the democratically-elected government remained in charge, and people taking to the streets to support Turkish democracy, several Egyptian state-run as well as privately owned newspapers came out on Saturday, July 16, with headlines and front pages showing a different trajectory.

State-run newspaper Al-Ahram main front page banner headline stated that the Turkish Armed Forces succeeded in ousting President Erdogan. The red headline said "The Turkish army overthrows Erdogan" and was followed by the subhead "The armed forces seize power, declare martial law and Recep Tayyip vanishes." 

State-owned Akhbar Al-Youm, announced in its main headline "A military coup in Turkey," while the subhead said "The military announced it has taken over to protect democracy and human rights, Erdogan calls on supporters to take to the streets to safeguard legitimacy." 

Taken in this light, Egyptian newspaper's choice of the word "legitimacy" is a reminder of when former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was mocked for repeating the same word in his final late-night televised speeches when he addressed the nation before being ousted by his army generals three years ago.

Ankara has not demanded the departure of any of the group's leaders, as Qatar did in September 2014, nor has it opened numerous investigations into the extent of the Brotherhood's involvement in terrorism, as Britain has. Perhaps that is what drove the Brotherhood to call upon Egyptians and Syrians living in Turkey, as well as governments around the world and Turkish civil society, to defend Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he was targeted by a coup launched by some members of the army.

On its official webpage, the Muslim Brotherhood posted a statement dated July 16 saying it would stand in solidarity with the Turkish people and their right to rally around their elected government. The statement also called upon "all free people around the world, peoples, civil society groups and elected governments to support democracy in every nation equally and reject backward [rebel] ideas." [...]

Mohamed Abd al-Qadir, chief editor of Turkish Affairs magazine and an analyst at Al-Ahram Center for Political & Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor he is certain the Brotherhood's leadership and young people in Turkey played a significant role in mobilizing Egyptians and Syrians.

"The Syrians [living in Turkey] number around 2.7 million, and the Egyptians' numbers are also massive, with a significant portion of them being students who are [beneficiaries of] Turkish scholarships and initiatives." These young people in Turkey are in contact with a wide network of their counterparts in Egypt and Syria, who "have a great deal of experience in mobilizing in the streets through [the social media networks] that spread throughout Egypt following the January [2011] revolution and during the Brotherhood's rule," Qadir said.

"They [use the networks] to spread notions of participating in some demonstrations and protests." Much of their knowledge is being extended to Turkey, "and they have a great deal of experience in dealing with military operations," he added.

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