Egyptian media prematurely declares overthrow of Erdogan

Egypt’s daily newspapers were quick to report on Saturday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been overthrown by the country’s military although it was clear by the morning that the coup attempt that started on Friday evening had failed.

Erdogan was vocal in his rejection of the removal of President Mohamed Morsi from power in 2013 and has been fiercely criticized in Egyptian media as a close ally of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al-Ahram, the flagship state-owned newspaper announced in its main headline “Turkish army overthrows Erdogan,” reporting on the initial hours of the attempted coup where it looked like it might succeed when the military blocked the two main bridges in Ankara and the president was rumored to have fled the country. Similarly state-owned Akhbar-Al-Youm declares in its main headline “A military coup in Turkey,” continuing in its subhead “The military announced it has taken charge to protect democracy and human rights, Erdogan calls on citizens to go down to the streets to protect ‘legitimacy.’”

The placing of the word legitimacy in quotes suggests that the newspaper is drawing a parallel with Egypt where Morsi used the word repeatedly in his final speeches as president and it became a rallying cry for his supporters in the period immediately following his ouster.

Privately-owned Al-Masry Al-Youm led with a similar headline declaring Erdogan’s downfall. Other papers, such as Al-Watan, made changes to their print edition. Al-Watan’s first edition declared “The military rules Turkey and overthrows Erdogan” and reports on rumors that Erdogan had requested asylum in Germany. However, the paper's second edition made no mention of the events in Turkey.

Youm7 addressed the events with a story on Friday night posted on the paper’s social media accounts about “the reasons for Erdogan’s fall,” listing animosity towards Egypt as one of them. However, when it turned out that Erdogan would remain president, Youm7 shifted its strategy with a story declaring that the coup was a “farcical show” orchestrated by Erdogan to further cement his powers.