Dubai: A Saudi businessman has offered Dh980,000 to purchase an anchorwoman’s iPhone through which the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged his supporters to take to the streets and foil Friday’s attempted military coup via a FaceTime call.
A few hours after the military coup news started going viral on regional and international media outlets and all forms of social media platforms, Erdogan called CNN Turk’s presenter Nevsin Mengu via FaceTime and made his live TV appeal for his supporters to resist the putschists.
Pictures of the presenter showing Erdogan addressing his supporters live on air via her iPhone on FaceTime went viral around the globe.
The Saudi businessman, who called himself Abu Rakan on his Twitter handle, tweeted: “This iPhone has saved a whole nation [Turks] and prevented bloodbaths ... I will purchase it and have it on display at the Saudi national museum for Arabs to learn the repercussions of revolutions and battles.” Abu Rakan then tweeted that he would purchase the presenter’s iPhone for 1 million Saudi riyals [around Dh980,000].
The Saudi’s offer went viral on Twitter and different social media networks with some praising it and others criticising it.
According to media reports, the anchorwoman rejected Abu Rakan’s offer to buy her phone.
Shortly after Erdogan’s appeal to his supporters via FaceTime, thousands of Turks took to the streets to face the military coup that later failed to overthrow the Turkish president.
