Social media users trace secret coup message in Gülen-linked daily’s ad

ANKARA

A commercial released a daily linked to U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen which aired more than nine months ago has caused a storm among social media users, who said they believed the advertisement contained secret messages regarding the July 15 failed coup plot.The 20-second advertisement of daily Zaman, which was closed upon a state of emergency decree due to its links to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), was first aired on Oct. 5, 2015, nine months and 10 days before the failed coup attempt.The commercial opens with an aerial view, which appears to have been shot from a plane or a helicopter, of an unknown city, with the sound of a siren accompanying the image.The view then suddenly fades to black and the sound of the siren stops.A newborn baby is seen laughing in the next scene while the logo of the newspaper is shown. No words are spoken in the advertisement.Social media users found significance in the date the advertisement was released, some nine months before the attempted coup, particularly as it contained the image of an infant, implying that the seed of the coup had been planted long in advance.Social media users also noted that the baby appeared to be laughing at the end of the clip, which they said was significant because “gülen” is Turkish for “laughing.”Social media users pointed to the similarity of the first part of the commercial to the F-16s which flew over Ankara and Istanbul during the failed attempt.Meanwhile, a prosecutor’s office included the Zaman advertisement in the probe into the failed takeover. The prosecutor’s office also demanded an arrest warrant be issued for Ekrem Dumanlı, the daily’s editor-in-chief at the time.