A woman displays a poster with the image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as government supporters wave Turkish flags during a rally in Taksim Square central Istanbul, Friday, July 22, 2016. Parliament voted 346-115 to approve the national state of emergency, which gives sweeping new powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had been accused of autocratic conduct even before this week鈥檚 crackdown on alleged opponents. Erdogan has said the state of emergency will counter threats to Turkish democracy. AP Photo
ISTANBUL, Turkey鈥擬ore than his security forces, what saved Turkey鈥檚 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the coup attempt was the extraordinary devotion the charismatic strongman inspires among his followers.
In the tense hours when rebel troops attacked with fighter jets and tanks, and commandos were closing in on him, Erdogan called directly on the Turkish people to resist the mutineers.
READ: Erdogan reasserts control as Turkey coup bid falters
Using the social media he previously despised, and sometimes blocked, he mobilized the citizens who confronted and stopped the plotters.
鈥淲hat makes Erdogan different is that he knew the people would move when he asked them to,鈥� said Can Acun, a researcher with Turkish think-tank SETA.
鈥淗e was aware of the strong linkage between him and the people that he had strengthened through long years.鈥�
Having risen from working-class roots, Erdogan served as Istanbul mayor and went on to lead the nation, as premier and then president, in a success story celebrated by his loyal Muslim conservative base.
The surreal turning point of the coup for millions of stunned TV viewers therefore came when the strongman appeared pale-faced on CNN Turk television, from the seaside resort of Marmaris where he was holidaying with his family.
Speaking via the FaceTime app on a smartphone held up to the TV camera by star presenter Hande Firat, he implored the Turkish people to 鈥渢ake to the streets鈥� and defend democracy.
鈥楴ot tanks but people鈥�
鈥淎 majority of people were shocked to see the president shocked,鈥� said Marc Pierini of the Carnegie Foundation Europe, a former EU ambassador in Ankara.
With Erdogan 鈥渋solated and far from the centers of power鈥�, Pierini said, the live video phone call was 鈥渁 master stroke鈥�.
While the putschists were storming TV stations, apparently using 鈥渁 manual from the 鈥�60s,鈥� Erdogan鈥檚 improvised video address 鈥渓ed to direct reaction鈥� on the streets, he said.
鈥淚t turned around the coup.鈥�
READ: Turkey quashes coup; Erdogan vows 鈥榟eavy price鈥� for plotters
In the days since people power prevented a military overthrow, at the cost of over 240 lives, Erdogan has used text messages and social media to speak directly to the people.
He has implored them to stay on the streets in nightly mass rallies in city squares that have resembled seas of red crescent flags.
鈥淒o not abandon the heroic resistance you have put up for your country, homeland and flag,鈥� read an SMS by 鈥淩TErdogan鈥� sent to every mobile phone in the country.
鈥淭he owners of our squares are not tanks, but the people.鈥�
Erdogan鈥檚 improvised response to the coup attempt 鈥渉elped him discover a new technology鈥� to strengthen his rule, said Aykan Erdemir of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies in Washington.
鈥淭he Turkish president, who has been deeply suspicious of social media and new communication technologies, realized that these tools have more potential than simply being propaganda outlets,鈥� he told Agence France-Presse.
鈥業gnite the masses鈥�
Erdogan dominates Turkish politics like no leader since the republic鈥檚 founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, having cultivated a deeply passionate relationship with his followers.
Such concentration of power by one man is unprecedented in modern Turkey and has raised widespread fears of increasingly autocratic and repressive rule.
Youthful urban demonstrators rallied against Erdogan during the 2013 Gezi Park protests, and see the man with the notoriously fiery temper as a despotic autocrat who ruthlessly shuts down criticism.
But in many working-class areas and the vast Anatolian heartland, Erdogan is beloved by millions who celebrate a bigger role for Islam in public life, have benefited from a revitalized economy, and share a new sense of national pride under a potent ruler.
Erdogan won the 2014 election with 52 percent of the vote, making him 鈥渢he first directly elected president of the people, with an added legitimacy,鈥� said Pierini.
Critics warn Erdogan鈥檚 vast personalization of power endangers democracy.
鈥淓rdogan now enjoys direct access to his followers via SMS and can mobilize them,鈥� without using his party as an intermediary, said Erdemir.
This allows Erdogan to 鈥渋gnite the masses to take the action that he sees fit,鈥� he said.
鈥淗owever, he will not have the same capacity to slow things down once his followers get going. So what he has now is both a very potent and risky technique.鈥�