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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
© 1998-2011 Roger A. Lee; Last Modified:
02.26.11 "The
History Guy" is a Registered Trademark. Join the
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Marketing You Can Trust 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 High-ranking
military arrests stir fresh
Turkey concern--Washington
Post, Feb. 26, 2010 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.
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