The Turkish Military in Politics, and the Attempted Coup of 15-16 July 2016
Abstract
A few months after he returned to office in
November 1991, Turkey’s then Prime Minister, Süleyman Demirel confidently
predicted that the era of military coups in Turkey was over: ‘[F]or the time
being’, he opined, ‘neither the atmosphere of Turkey nor the atmosphere of the
world is suitable for a coup d’état’ (Evans, 1992, p. 106). Demirel’s
prediction turned out to be too optimistic, but it has to be said in his
defence that very few of the many observers of Turkish politics had expected
the traumatic events of the night of 15-16 July 2016. The AKP government
appeared to have made its peace with the generals, while President Erdoğan, in
spite of his quest for personal autocracy, retained substantial public support.
Hence, for most of us, the attempted takeover came like a bolt from the blue,
and still requires explanation. It also offered important comparisons with
previous coups in Turkey, both successful and unsuccessful, as well as with
global trends. In an attempt to address these issues this paper starts by
summarising some general theory on the nature of coups, as suggested in the
academic literature. This is followed by an outline of Turkey’s experiences
with military interventions since 1960. The next two sections, respectively,
relate the events of 15-16 July, as nearly as we currently know them, and try
to offer explanations for the failure of the coup. The final section addresses
some critical remaining questions, and speculates whether Süleyman Demirel’s
prediction has, at long last, been achieved.
Keywords
Kaynakça
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- Axe, D. (2016, July 19). How Fighter Jets Almost Killed a President. The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 8, 2018, from https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-fighter-jets-almost-killed-a-president
- Ayoob, M. (2016, July 28). The Turkish Coup Wasn’t an Inside Job. The National Interest. Retrieved May 8, 2018, from http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/the-turkish-coup-wasnt-inside-job-17175
- Batur, M. (1985). Anılar ve görüşler:" üç dönemin perde arkası". İstanbul: Milliyet Yayınları.
- Beauchamp, Z. (2016, July 16). Why Turkey’s coup failed, according to an expert. Vox. Retrieved May 8, 2018, from https://www.vox.com/2016/7/16/12205352/turkey-coup-failed-why
- Be’eri, E. (1982). The waning of the military coup in Arab politics. Middle Eastern Studies, 18(1), 69–128.
- Bell, C., & Powell, J. (2016, July 22). Turkey’s coup attempt was unusual, but not for the reasons you might expect. Washington Post. Retrieved May 8, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/07/22/turkeys-coup-was-unusual-but-not-for-the-reasons-you-might-expect/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4d3bb8b61208
- Benli, M. H. (2017, June 3). Coup soldier ordered earlier mobilization after intel chief meeting: Indictment. Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved May 8, 2018, from http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/coup-soldier-ordered-earlier-mobilization-after-intel-chief-meeting-indictment-110501
Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
Siyaset Bilimi
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar
William Hale
Bu kişi benim
Yayımlanma Tarihi
3 Haziran 2018
Gönderilme Tarihi
16 Nisan 2018
Kabul Tarihi
11 Ağustos 2018
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 2018 Cilt: 2 Sayı: 1