|
|
 |
(1960--1997) |
New
& Recent Conflicts
Portal
for pages on military history Lists
of wars throughout history and from around
the world. Biographical
files on individuals who impact American
politics, culture, business, education and
other arenas of life in the United
States. Pages
on the governmental systems of selected
nations. United
States national government and
politics. What's
New The
latest changes to the History Guy
site. Information
on the History Guy, the origin of the
website, along with commentaries
and a site
map. Military
Coups in Turkey—(1960-1997): Turkey has a
history of its military overthrowing elected
governments and imposing or re-imposing its own
brand of political correctness on the nation. The
Turkish military, the army in particular, sees
itself as the guardian of the pro-Western, secular,
(or non-religious) form of government established
by modern Turkey's founder, Kemal Ataturk.
Four
times since the founding of the Turkish Republic in
the 1920s, the military has stepped in to effect a
change in government. Now, in the spring of 2007,
tensions in Turkey are mounting as military leaders
are once again issuing warnings to the government
of the ruling conservative Justice and Development
Party (AK Party) . Massive street protests by
hundreds of thousands of urban secular Turks
protesting the perceived religious bias of the
ruling party, but also hoping that a new coup does
not occur. Below
is a listing of the four coups in modern Turkish
history. 1960 Turkish
coup d'état--The Turkish Army overthrew
the government of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. He
and other members of his government were put on
trial, and he was hanged in 1961, along with his
Foreign Minister and his Finance
Minister. 1971 Turkish coup
d'état--The Turkish Army overthrew the
government of the conservative prime minister,
Suleyman Demirel. 1980 Turkish coup
d'état--The military took power in
Turkey after months of violence between leftist and
rightist militants nearly brought Turkey to the
point of civil war. The United States supported the
Turkish military, seeking stability in the midst of
the U.S.-Iran
Hostage Crisis and the
ongoing Soviet War in Afghanistan. Kenan Evren, the
leader of the coup, took over the presidency and
then rewrote the constitution to guarantee the
military's political power. 1997 Turkish coup
d'état--The Turkish military forced
Necmettin Erbakan's Islamist-led coalition
government to resign. The secular military feared
that Erbakan was trying to change the basic nature
of Turkish politics and government and turn Turkey
into an Islamic-led theocracy like neighboring
Iran. After forcing Erbakan from power, the army
turned the government over to more secular
politicians. 2007-2009--The government
arrested 86 people, including writers, members of
civil organizations and former military officers,
charging them with membership in an illegal
ultranationalist organization and of plotting to
overthrow the Turkish government. In January, 2009,
30 more were arrested, including three retired
generals, and a former police chief. On Copyright
© 1998-2009 Roger A. Lee; Last Modified:
01.10.09 "The
History Guy" is a Registered Trademark. Please
cite this source when appropriate: Lee,
R. "The History Guy: Military Coups in
Turkey (1960-1997)" http://www.historyguy.com/coups_in_turkey.html Turkey:
To Coup, or not to Coup, that, is
the
question!--Comments
from the History Guy
Weblog. Chronology
of Turkish military coups: From
the 1961 young officers coup to
the 2007 e-memo A
history of Turkey's coups-- April
30, 2007-From the
Telegraph.co.uk Police
discover weapons, hand grenades
in Turkey coup probe:
report--ABC
News, January, 10,
2009 86
Charged in Turkey Coup
Plot
-NYTimes, July, 15,
2008 History Guy
Links: Greco-Turkish
Wars In The Modern
Era--Lists
the wars between Greece and Turkey in the
modern era.
A chronicle of newer
and more recent conflicts and wars from
around the globe