Conflicting reactions in the Middle East towards the coup attempt in Turkey: between opposing and welcoming.

• Author: Yousef, Ahmed
• Position: COMMENTARY

On 15 July 2016, a military coup was attempted in Turkey against state institutions including, but not limited to, the government and President Erdogan. Reactions to the event were largely against the coup attempt, both domestically and internationally. This commentary tries to shed light on the different positions taken in the Arab world. I also assert that some of these positions are primarily due to the stance and policy preferences of some Arab regimes towards Turkey's current President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Additionally, reactions are closely related with the stance of the Arab peoples and their positive perception of Turkey's current leadership, namely Erdogan. This positive stance of the Arab populace stems from considering President Erdogan as the champion of the oppressed segments within the Middle East on the one hand and on the other hand praising the successful experience of good democratic governance in Turkey, a situation Islamists in the Arab world like to eulogize.

Initially, I aim to discuss the intellectual versus popular positions--Islamists versus Secularists. Following this, the official positions of some countries in the region, governments and regimes, are explored in detail. Finally the Arab media where objectivity is currently absent to a large extent with some outlets patently siding with the coup plotters, will be examined. I also discuss the other Arab media which covered the events fairly with high professionalism and neutrality, and consequently earned the respect of their audience.

Popular Positions towards the Coup Attempt in Turkey

Despite the variety of reactions in the Arab street, the vast majority sided with the Turkish people's strong will and their firm defiance of the coup by thronging the squares and streets until its failure.

In Palestine, where people's hearts have been passionately supportive of Turkey's Erdogan, especially since AK Party came to power in 2002, people spent all-night apprehensively following up the media coverage of the bloody July 15 coup attempt. Furthermore, they were concerned about the possibility that if the government was overthrown, it would have meant the return of Turkey into Israel's arms and the loss of the Palestinians most important strategic ally in the region. Thus, when the new day dawned with the news of the coup's failure, thousands came out to the mosques and squares celebrating and distributing candy. For them, it was a memorable day and a salient page of their history.

In Libya, where there is still internal conflict and a state of political polarization, the street appeared to be divided between supporters and opponents of the coup and this volatile situation dominated the gatherings in popular cafes. Social media was sparked with supportive reactions in favor of the Turkish army's move and then lamenting the failure of this attempt; many other Libyans tweeted their firm opposition against military coups and military rule. (1)

It was evident that the Libyan disunity standoff was fueled by differences in-house between the anti-Islamist military leader Gen. Khalifa Haftar's secularist and loyalist attitudes. Libyans are, by default, not fond of the rule of the army as they have suffered from it for a long time. However Haftar, who is backed by the Egyptian regime, embraced the official position of Egypt toward Erdogan.

However, to justify the coup attempt, Mahmoud Khalaf, professor of political science in Libya, wrote: "The repeated coup attempts in Turkey reflect the fragility of the democratic experience, and the lack of success of the Turkish political system to neutralize the military establishment." (2)

In Somalia, where the government has closer political and economic relations with the current government in Turkey, the capital Mogadishu witnessed huge masses coming out onto the streets expressing their pleasure about the failure of the coup as did the Islamic movements in Somalia and many Arab countries who also held various activities in celebration.

In general, most of the segments of society, in the Arab countries of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania condemned the failed coup. Furthermore, they were keenly monitoring developments in Turkey until the early hours of the morning. Social media platforms, which provided a truer picture of the public's feelings, were clogged with congratulations when the failure of the coup attempt was clear.

The stance of Arab elites, represented by think tanks, intellectuals and community leaders towards the Turkish people's resistance against the coup attempt was fairly positive and they regarded this stance as the victory of Turkish democracy. The Arab elites, particularly those with Islamic tendencies, expressed their solid opposition against the coup attempt in Turkey, considering it to be a flagrant violation of the peoples will in the most stable democracy in...