Turns out that it wasn't entirely, or even mostly. Erdogan's call that did it. The mosques turned on their call-to-prayer PA systems and ordered their followers into the streets.
[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/15/turkey-low-flying...
[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/15/turkey-low-flying...
While it sounds like a joke coming from Erdogan, with his "ambivalent" relationship to democracy, asking the people to go to the squares and streets is asking them to defend a democracy.
Sadly, either outcome still leaves Turkey less democratic and less stable than before. As it currently seems, Erdogan is going to have more power than ever before with all his adversaries purged from the military.
I keep reading that Erdogan is popular, but I also read that he was elected with only 13% of the vote.
Such is the way of leaders throughout history. For instance, Rev. Dr. King deliberately had teenagers get assaulted with dogs, water cannon, and truncheons as a tactic for getting media attention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_presidential_election,...
Like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r73p95I-eE
Or like in any military force, unless there was coercion going on here.