If it had succeeded, Western media would have legitimized coup: Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Western media would have legitimized the recent coup in the country if it had not failed.
Erdogan made the remarks during the official opening ceremony of the TRT World channel held in his presidential palace in Ankara on Tuesday.
"If the coup had been successful... then foreign media would have mobilized their cameras and pens to legitimize the coup," he said, noting that if the coup had not failed, they "would have given their screens over to the junta."
Erdogan referred to the channel as Turkey's "window on the world," adding that he did not want TRT World to be an "official bulletin" but to tell "the truths of our nation through the best television."
The channel was inaugurated amid vast criticism over Ankara's post-coup crackdown that saw the arrest of large numbers of journalists and reporters. Ankara has voiced its worries that Turkey’s side of the stories in issues such as the coup and its operations in Syria is vastly overlooked by foreign media. The Turkish president went on to quote an African proverb that says if lions do not tell their own stories, people have to read the stories written by hunters.
Erdogan stated that Turkey had "bitter experiences" during the last three years, and that he was "well aware" how Western media covered protests against his rule in 2013.
Renegade Turkish military personnel declared themselves in charge of state matters on the night of July 15. The defectors rolled battle tanks down the streets and flew helicopters to fight proponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party in the capital Ankara and Istanbul. The putsch was later extinguished as tens of thousands of people flooded the streets across Turkey in a strong show of support for Erdogan.
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