Military
Coups in Turkey
(1960--2016)
Turkish
Soldiers During 2016
Coup
Military
Coups in Turkey—(1960-2016): 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 successfully stepped in
to effect a change in government. In the spring of
2007, tensions in Turkey were high as military
leaders once again issued 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 took place, but, despite the
tensions, a new coup did not occur.
On
July 15, 2016, however, Turkey was rocked by a new
coup attempt by "factions of the military," as
Turkish troops blocked streets in Istanbul and
gunfire and explosions were reported in the capital
of Ankara.
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. This was later called a "soft coup,"
as the military did not actually take over, but got
what it wanted through threats.
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.
2016 Turkish coup
d'état attempt--On July 15, 2016
"factions
of the military" launched a coup attempt against
the government of Islamist President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. Tensions in Turkey have escalated
recently, as the country is embroiled again in an
increasingly violent war with Kurdish insurgents in
the southeast, while also engaged against the
ISIS/Islamic State threat on Turkey's southern
border. Turkey is part of the coalition of nations
led by the United States in the war on ISIS, while
also enduring terrorist attacks by the Islamic
State in retaliation.
With
elements of the Turkish military declaring martial
law, President Erdogan, who went into hiding, used
an app on his phone to call on Turkish citizens to
take to the streets to protest. Erdogan later
appeared at the airport in Istanbul, where he
defiantly called on the people of Turkey to resist
the coup. Loyal troops and air force units fought
the rebels, and the coup attempt fell apart the
next day. Casualties included 265 dead, and 1,440
wounded. Most of the dead were rebel and loyalist
troops. Erdogan blamed an exiled Muslim cleric as
the ringleader, but Fethullah Gülen denied any
involvement. In the aftermath of the coup, the
government arrested nearly 6,000 people suspected
of plotting against the government.
Map of
Turkey -2016 Coup
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Outside
Links
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Turkey:
To Coup, or not to Coup, that, is
the
question!--Comments
from the History Guy
Weblog.
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Chronology
of Turkish military coups: From
the 1961 young officers coup to
the 2007 e-memo
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High-ranking
military arrests stir fresh
Turkey
concern--Washington
Post, Feb. 26, 2010
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EU
warns Turkish army over
vote
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Turkey's
Coming Coup
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A
history of Turkey's coups-- April
30, 2007-From the
Telegraph.co.uk
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Military
Interventions in
Turkey
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The
Military Coup in Turkey,
1980
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1980
Turkish coup d'état -
Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
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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
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Tanks
in the Streets as Military
Attempts a Coup in Turkey-New
York Times article on the 2016
Turkish Coup
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