WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT:

A trio of Turkish helicopters filled with rebel forces buzzed the country's Turquoise Coast below a waxing moon early Saturday as they homed in on their target: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

For the first time in more than 35 years, members of Turkey's military were trying to forcibly overthrow their government.

As the small group of elite Maroon Beret soldiers on the Turkish Riviera staged their make-or-break mission to try to capture or perhaps kill the country's democratically elected president, it seemed as if the coup plotters had the upper hand.

In Istanbul, tanks commandeered by the rebels closed Istanbul's international airport. Soldiers opened fire on Turkish teenagers storming their barricades on a vital bridge connecting the two sides of the city. F-16s attacked Turkey's parliament building, and helicopters fired at the country's intelligence headquarters. The country's top general was detained at gunpoint by one of his top aides.

Yet the commandos who raided the resort where Mr. Erdogan had been staying missed their target. After a brief gunbattle with his presidential security force, the rebels were repelled. Before they ever arrived, Mr. Erdogan had slipped away. [...]

Mr. Erdogan, who has lost the sympathy of Western leaders who object to his broad domestic crackdown on his political foes, likely owes his survival to a counteroffensive that marshaled military might, technology and religion.

He beckoned the Turkish people to take to the streets and defend his government. In an ostentatious gambit, Mr. Erdogan sent a text message to every mobile phone in the country, a job so massive that some of the texts were still being received Sunday.

Loudspeakers at Turkey's mosques crackled to life in the late-night hours with a call to prayer that was widely understood by many as a call to action.

The dramatic attempt to seize power faltered as Mr. Erdogan's call to resistance fueled huge crowds already marching against the putsch and rushing to critical locations such as parliament to show solidarity with the government.

It was the first time in Turkey's history that its citizens rose up to prevent a military coup. 

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