On the night of July 15, Turkey saw a coup attempt plotted by the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ). The coup forces immediately raided and tried to take control of key locations and, in the meantime, kill if they deemed necessary. Fortunately, the attempt was thwarted chiefly thanks to the people`s democratic reflexes and resolve of both the government and opposition politicians. In my opinion, the clear response from the people did not only prove their commitment to democracy, but also gave hope to the peoples of the Middle East and Africa.It is no secret that Turkey has a rich history of coups. However, as former President Abdullah Gül said angrily on air via FaceTime on the night, Turkey is not a Latin American or African country where the regime could change and democracy be removed overnight. Despite that this was an inconsiderate thing to say, nobody can say that coups are rare in African history. The continent has already seen over 180 successful or failed coups since the 1950s. According to a study by Jonathan M. Powell and Clayton L. Thyne from the University of Kentucky, between 1950 and 2010, Africa experienced 169 coups, 51.5 percent of which were successful.A look at the last five years in sub-Saharan Africa shows there have been successful coups in four countries and three failures in others. It is not fashionable to take control of the government and change the regime by force even in African countries. Moreover, no one could have an anticipated a coup in Turkey, but then an insane group attempted it and failed. The failure of the coup attempt in Turkey and the unpopularity of coups in African countries have similar reasons.First of all, Africa has a huge, young population and, according to projections, the young population will double by 2050. The significance of this is the fact that even though there is youth unemployment and difficulties accessing decent education, they can follow current political issues and world news on social media. Social media's power to galvanize and organize the masses into action is largely accepted. We know this after the experience of that night. After the coup forces left their barracks to hold important spots, even before President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan demanded people go out to the streets, the people, especially the youth resisted, coordinating mainly through social media. Many youth associations had organized young people within an hour. Likewise in the last coup attempt in the continent, Burkina Faso's young people showed their anger against the coup by organizing behind the #lwili hashtag and using the radio. As sharp utilizers of cellphones and the Internet were connected to the digitized world and worldwide news, they had a part to play as opinion makers and operators of reform and change. These technological items give and gave African people a stronger political conscious.The second similarity is the emerging middle class. The rise of the middle class brings a deeper internalization for rule of law, constitutionalism and democratic-economic stability. The growth of the middle class in Turkey is not news but, we cannot talk about a full-blown middle class in the African case. Yet, it is surely growing as the African Development Bank (AfDB) report indicates. The report shows 34 percent of the continent's population were middle class in 2011 as contrasted with 27 percent in 2000. According to research conducted by Standard Bank, a boom is about to get underway with 11 sub-Saharan African nations expected to soar in the following 16 years, going from today's 15-million-strong middle class to more than 40 million by 2030. The noteworthy rates of economic development in the most recent decade have occurred combined with upgrades in high-value services like technology, finance and communication. Through these factors, the continent has experienced significant development. In many countries, as the percentage of the middle class soars along with economic growth, people demand more freedom, democracy, human rights, accountability and transparency.A third factor is that most African societies have witnessed financial crises and democratic instability through coups, much like Turkey did. Coups in Africa never brought anything except poverty and ground for civil conflicts. Turkey had a similar experience through its history of coups, where every coup resulted in a financial downturn of at least 10 years and affected the fundamental human rights of its people. Therefore, neither Turkey nor any African country wants to face a coup.In my final part, I want to mention two important points that are associated with Africa, Turkey and the coup d'état. First, we saw through various channels and programs how African people, especially women and children, were demonstrating against the coup attempt taking place in Turkey thousands of miles away from them. Apart from the African Union itself, the coup attempt was condemned by almost every African country, from Kenya to Senegal. They acted on the idea that if Turkey, their longtime friend and benefactor, were to face such a radical change, African countries will not remain unaffected by it. Turkey`s friendly attitude towards them might change with the new coup government. Demonstrations in Tanzania, South Africa and Somalia by politicians and Turkish people there could be seen on the streets of Mogadishu, Darussalam and Pretoria. These countries saluted the brave uprising by the Turkish people. Turkey taught the whole world a lesson in democratic civil uprising against a military coup attempt and it inspired African states and their people.Second, the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ) started its activities in Africa with the end of the Cold War and built hundreds of facilities in over 25 years. It is common knowledge that this terror organization is behind the military coup attempt in Turkey and they did it through keeping key government, military and police positions. As the world wakes up to this fact, Gülenists in state offices will have to face stronger opposition and will not be able to infiltrate African state organs like they did in the past. Therefore, even though the likelihood of a second coup attempt has been reduced through measures taken by officials, Turkey and coup-susceptible African countries have to be aware of this probable threat coming from the movement, which they could face in their near and far future.Finally, what should African countries do now against the FETÖ? Countries that could be affected by them should withhold the licenses of all Gulenist institutions, like their Turkish schools, and then hand them to Turkish Embassies like Somalia plans to do. Even though they claim that their schools are enhancing poor children in Africa and provide them with fundamental education, they rule out that their schools are private schools and only children of rich African families can receive their education there. Nationalized schools in Turkey serve fair education without discriminating against any student. Therefore, governments of African countries should not be reluctant in handing former Gülenist schools to Turkish embassies, so that these schools can offer education without ideological characteristics and without the aims infiltrating state organ.* Graduate student at SOAS, University of London in african studies