Military coup in Turkey, 1980
Encyclopedia
Chief of the Turkish General Staff
The General Staff of the Republic of Turkey presides over the Armed Forces of the Republic of Turkey, comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force...
General Kenan Evren
Kenan Evren
Ahmet Kenan Evren was the seventh President of Turkey; a post he assumed by leading the 1980 military coup. He was also the last president to be born in the Ottoman Empire.- Biography :...
, was the third coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
in the history of the Republic
History of the Republic of Turkey
The Republic of Turkey was created after the overthrow of Sultan Mehmet VI Vahdettin by the new Republican Parliament in 1922. This new regime delivered the coup de grâce to the Ottoman state which had been practically wiped away from the world stage following the First World War.-Single-party...
after the 1960 coup and the 1971 "Coup by Memorandum".
The 1970s were marked by right-wing/left-wing armed conflicts, often proxy war
Proxy war
A proxy war or proxy warfare is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly. While powers have sometimes used governments as proxies, violent non-state actors, mercenaries, or other third parties are more often employed...
s between the United States and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, respectively. To create a pretext for a decisive intervention, the Turkish military allowed the conflicts to escalate; some say they actively adopted a strategy of tension
Strategy of tension
The strategy of tension is a theory that describes how to divide, manipulate, and control public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, and false flag terrorist actions....
. The violence abruptly stopped afterwards, and the coup was welcomed by some for restoring order.
For the next three years the Turkish Armed Forces
Turkish Armed Forces
The Turkish Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. They consist of the Army, the Navy , and the Air Force...
ruled the country through the National Security Council
National Security Council (Turkey)
The National Security Council comprises the Chief of Staff, select members of the Council of Ministers, and the President of the Republic...
, before democracy was restored.
Prelude
In 1975 Süleyman DemirelSüleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...
, president of the conservative Justice Party
Justice Party (Turkey)
The Justice Party was a Turkish political party prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. A descendant of the Democrat Party, the AP was dominated by Süleyman Demirel, who served six times as prime minister, and was in office at the time of the military coup on September 12, 1980...
succeeded Bülent Ecevit
Bülent Ecevit
Mustafa Bülent Ecevit was a Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist, who was the leader of Republican People's Party , later of the Democratic Left Party and four-time Prime Minister of Turkey.- Personal life :...
, president of the social-democratic Republican People's Party
Republican People's Party (Turkey)
The Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to...
as Prime Minister. He formed a coalition with the Nationalist Front , Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan was a Turkish engineer, academic, politician , who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 until 1997. He was Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister...
's fundamentalist National Salvation Party
National Salvation Party
The National Salvation Party was an Islamist political party in Turkey founded on 11 October 1972 as the successor of the banned National Order Party . The party was led by Necmettin Erbakan...
and Alparslan Türkeş
Alparslan Türkes
Alparslan Türkeş was a Cypriot-born Turkish nationalist politician who was the founder and former president of the Nationalist Movement Party party...
' far right Nationalist Movement Party
Nationalist Movement Party
The Nationalist Movement Party , is a far-right political party in Turkey.In the 2002 general elections, the party had lost its 129 seats as it had won only 8.34% of the national vote...
. The MHP used the opportunity to infiltrate state security services, seriously aggravating the low-intensity war that was waging between rival factions.
The elections of 1977
Turkish general election, 1977
General elections were held in Turkey on 5 June 1977. Elections took place in the middle of a political race between the right wing party AP and the left wing party CHP. With the charismatic leadership of Bülent Ecevit, CHP managed to beat one of the symbol figures of the conservative politics of...
had no winner. First, Demirel continued the coalition with the Nationalist Front. But in 1978 Ecevit was able to get to power again with the help of some deputies who had shifted from one party to another. In 1979, Demirel once again became Prime Minister. At the end of the 1970s Turkey was in an unstable situation with unsolved economic and social problems facing strike actions and partial paralysis of politics (the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Grand National Assembly of Turkey
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey , usually referred to simply as the Meclis , is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence...
was unable to elect a President during the six months preceding the coup). Since 1968-69, a proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
system made it difficult to find any parliamentary majority. The interests of the industrial bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
, which held the largest holdings of the country, were opposed by other social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
es such as smaller industrialists, traders, rural notables, landlords, whose interests did not always coincide among themselves. Numerous agricultural and industrial reforms requested by parts of the middle upper classes were blocked by others. Henceforth, the politicians seemed unable to combat the growing violence in the country.
Unprecedented political violence had erupted in Turkey in the late 1970s. The overall death toll of the 1970s is estimated at 5,000, with nearly ten assassinations per day. Most were members of left-wing and right-wing political organizations, then engaged in bitter fighting. The ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves
Grey Wolves
The Idealist Youth , commonly known as Grey Wolves , is an ultra-nationalist neo-fascist youth organization. It is accused of terrorism. According to Turkish authorities, the organization carried out 694 murders between 1974–1980.-Name:...
, youth organisation of the MHP
Nationalist Movement Party
The Nationalist Movement Party , is a far-right political party in Turkey.In the 2002 general elections, the party had lost its 129 seats as it had won only 8.34% of the national vote...
, claimed they were supporting the security forces. According to the British Searchlight magazine, in 1978 there were 3,319 fascist attacks, in which 831 were killed and 3,121 wounded. In the central trial against the left-wing organization Devrimci Yol
Devrimci Yol
Devrimci Yol was a movement rather than a tightly structured organization, with many supporters in trade unions and other professional institutions. Its ideology was based on Marxism-Leninism but rejected both the Soviet and the Chinese model. Devrimci Yol entered the political scene in Turkey on...
(Revolutionary Path) at Ankara Military Court the defendants listed 5,388 political killings before the military coup. Among the victims were 1,296 right-wingers and 2,109 left-wingers. The others could not clearly be related. The 1978 Bahçelievler Massacre
Bahçelievler massacre
The Bahçelievler incident is the name given to the events of October 9, 1978 in Bahçelievler, Ankara, Turkey, when seven university students, members of the Turkish Workers' Party, were assassinated by neo-fascists including Grey Wolves' leader Abdullah Çatlı, and Haluk Kırcı...
, the 1977 Taksim Square massacre
Taksim Square massacre
The Taksim Square massacre relates to the incidents on 1 May, 1977, the international Labour Day on Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey.-Background:...
with 35 victims and the 1978 Kahramanmaraş Massacre with over 100 victims are some notable incidents. Martial law was announced following the Kahramanmaraş Massacre in 14 of (then) 67 provinces in December 1978. At the time of the coup martial law had been extended to 20 provinces.
Ecevit was warned about the coming coup in June 1979 by Nuri Gündeş of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Ecevit then told his interior minister, İrfan Özaydınlı, who then told Sedat Celasun—one of the five generals who would lead the coup. The deputy undersecretary of the MİT, Nihat Yıldız, was demoted to the London consulate and replaced by a lieutenant general as a result.
Coup
On 11 September 1979, General Kenan EvrenKenan Evren
Ahmet Kenan Evren was the seventh President of Turkey; a post he assumed by leading the 1980 military coup. He was also the last president to be born in the Ottoman Empire.- Biography :...
ordered a hand-written report from full general Haydar Saltık on whether or not a coup was in order, or if the government merely needed a stern warning. The report, which recommended preparing for a coup, was delivered in six months. Evren kept the report in his office safe. Evren says the only other person beside Saltık who was aware of the details was Nurettin Ersin. It has been argued that this was a ploy on Evren's part to encompass the political spectrum as Saltık was close to the left, while Ersin took care of the right. Backlash from political organizations after the coup would thereby be prevented.
On 21 December, the War Academy generals convened to decide the course of action. The pretext for the coup was to put an end to the social conflicts of the 1970s, as well as the parliamentary instability. They resolved to issue the party leaders (Süleyman Demirel
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...
and Bülent Ecevit
Bülent Ecevit
Mustafa Bülent Ecevit was a Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist, who was the leader of Republican People's Party , later of the Democratic Left Party and four-time Prime Minister of Turkey.- Personal life :...
) a memorandum by way of the president, Fahri Korutürk
Fahri Koruturk
Fahri Sabit Korutürk was a Turkish navy officer, diplomat and the sixth President of Turkey.-Biography:He was born in Istanbul, at Soğukçeşme Sokağı, a small street between Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia. He attended the navy cadet school in 1916, was graduated in 1923 and from the Naval Academy...
, which was done on 27 December. The leaders received the letter a week later.
A second report, submitted in March 1980, recommended undertaking the coup without further delay, otherwise apprehensive lower-ranked officers might be tempted to "take the matter into their own hands". Evren made only minor amendments to Saltık's plan, titled "Operation Flag" .
The coup was planned to take place on 11 July 1980, but was postponed after a motion to put Demirel's government to a vote of confidence was rejected on 2 July. At the Supreme Military Council meeting on August 26, a second date was proposed: September 12.
On 7 September 1980, Evren and the four service commanders decided that they would overthrow the civilian government. On September 12, the National Security Council
National Security Council (Turkey)
The National Security Council comprises the Chief of Staff, select members of the Council of Ministers, and the President of the Republic...
, headed by Evren declared coup d'état on the national channel. The MGK then extended martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
throughout the country, abolished the Parliament and the government, suspended the Constitution
Constitutional History of Turkey
Over the centuries, Turkey has had many constitutions and can be characterized by the steady establishment of a nation-state, democratization and recognition of international law....
and banned all political parties and trade unions. They invoked the Kemalist tradition of state secularism and in the unity of the nation, which had already justified the precedent coups, and presented themselves as opposed to communism, fascism, separatism and religious sectarianism.
Economy
One of the coup's most visible effects was on the economy. On the day of the coup, it was on the verge of collapse, with three digit inflation. There was large-scale unemployment, and a chronic foreign trade deficit. The economic changes between 1980 and 1983 were credited to Turgut ÖzalTurgut Özal
Halil Turgut Özal was Prime Minister of Turkey and President of Turkey . As Prime Minister, he transformed the economy of Turkey by paving the way for the privatization of many state enterprises.-Early life and career:...
, who was the main person responsible for the economic policy by the Demirel administration since January 24, 1980. Özal supported the IMF
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
, and to this end he forced the resignation of the director of the Central Bank, İsmail Aydınoğlu, who opposed it.
The strategic aim was to unite Turkey with the "global economy
Economic globalization
Economic globalization refers to increasing economic interdependence of national economies across the world through a rapid increase in cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital...
," which big business
Big Business
Big business is a term used to describe large corporations, in either an individual or collective sense. The term first came into use in a symbolic sense subsequent to the American Civil War, particularly after 1880, in connection with the combination movement that began in American business at...
supported, and gave Turkish companies the ability to market products and services globally. One month after the coup, London's International Banking Review wrote "A feeling of hope is evident among international bankers that Turkey's military coup may have opened the way to greater political stability as an essential prerequisite for the revitalization of the Turkish economy". During 1980-1983, the foreign exchange rate was allowed to float freely. Foreign investment was encouraged. The national establishments, initiated by Ataturk reforms, were promoted to involve joint enterprises with foreign establishments. The 85% pre-coup level government involvement in the economy forced a reduction in the relative importance of the state sector. Just after the coup, Turkey revitalized the Atatürk Dam
Atatürk Dam
The Atatürk Dam , originally the Karababa Dam, is a zoned rock-fill dam with a central core on the Euphrates River on the border of Adıyaman Province and Şanlıurfa Province in Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey...
and the Southeastern Anatolia Project
Southeastern Anatolia Project
The Southeastern Anatolia Project is a multi-sector integrated regional development project based on the concept of sustainable development for the 9 million people living in the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey...
, which was a land reform project promoted as a solution to the underdeveloped Southeastern Anatolia
Southeastern Anatolia Region
Southeastern Anatolia Region is one of Turkey's seven census-defined geographical regions . It is bordered by the Mediterranean Region to the west, the Eastern Anatolia Region to the north, Syria to the south, and Iraq to the southeast.-Provinces:...
. It was transformed into a multi-sector social and economic development program, a sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
program, for the 9 million people of the region. The closed economy, produced for only Turkey's need, was subsidized for a vigorous export drive.
The drastic expansion of the economy during this period was relative to the previous level. The GDP remained well below those of most Middle Eastern and European countries. Some undesirable results were the freezing of wages, a significant decrease of the public sector
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
, a deflationist policy, and several successive mini-devaluation
Devaluation
Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to those goods, services or other monetary units with which that currency can be exchanged....
s.
Tribunals
The coup rounded up members of both the left and right for trial with military tribunals. Within a very short time, there were 250,000650,000 people detained. Among the detainess, 230,000 were tried, 14,000 were stripped of citizenship, and 50 were executed. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people were tortured, and thousands are still missing. A total of 1,683,000 people were blacklisted. Apart from the militants killed during shootings, at least four prisoners were legally executed immediately after the coup; the first ones since 1972, while in February 1982 there were 108 prisoners condemned to capital punishmentCapital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. Among the prosecuted were Ecevit, Demirel, Türkeş, and Erbakan, who were incarcerated and temporarily suspended from politics.
One notable victim of the hangings was a 17-year-old Erdal Eren, who said he looked forward to it in order to avoid thinking of the torture he had witnessed.
After having taken advantage of the Grey Wolves' activism, General Kenan Evren imprisoned hundreds of them. At the time they were some 1700 Grey Wolves organizations in Turkey, with about 200,000 registered members and a million sympathizers. In its indictment of the MHP in May 1981, the Turkish military government charged 220 members of the MHP and its affiliates for 694 murders. Evren and his cohorts realized that Türkeş was a charismatic leader who could challenge their authority using the paramilitary Grey Wolves. Following the coup in Colonel Türkeş's indictment, the Turkish press revealed the close links maintained by the MHP with security forces as well as organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
involved in drug trade
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
, which financed in return weapons and the activities of hired fascist commandos all over the country.
Constitution
Within three years the generals passed some 800 laws in order to form a militarily disciplined society. The coup members were convinced of the unworkability of the existing constitution. They decided to adopt a new constitution that included mechanisms to prevent what they saw as impeding the functioning of democracy. On 29 June 1981 the military junta appointed 160 people as members of an advisory assembly to draft a new constitutionConstitution of Turkey
This article relates to a current event. See also the Turkish constitutional referendum, 2010The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey is Turkey's fundamental law. It establishes the organization of the government and sets out the principles and rules of the state's conduct along with its...
. The new constitution brought clear limits and definitions, such as on the rules of election of the president, which was stated as a factor for the coup d'état.
On 7 November 1982 the new constitution was put to a referendum, which was accepted with 92% of the vote. On 9 November 1982 Kenan Evren was appointed President for the next seven years.
Aftermath
After the approval by referendum of the new Constitution in June 1982, Kenan Evren organized general elections, held on 6 November 1983. This transition to democracy has been criticized by the Turkish scholar Ergun Özbudun as a "textbook case" of a junta's dictating the terms of its departure.The referendum and the elections did not take place in a free and competitive setting. Many political leaders of pre-coup era (including Süleyman Demirel, Bülent Ecevit, Alparslan Türkeş and Necmettin Erbakan) had been banned from politics, and all new parties needed to get the approval of the National Security Council in order to participate in the elections. Only 3 parties, two of which were actually created by the junta were permitted to contest.
The secretary general of the National Security Council was general Haydar Saltık. Both he and Evren were the strong men of the regime, while the government was headed by a retired admiral, Bülent Ulusu, and included several retired military officers and a few civil servants. Some alleged in Turkey, after the coup, that general Saltuk had been preparing a more radical, rightist coup, which had been one of the reason prompting the other generals to act, respecting the hierarchy, and then to include him in the MGK in order to neutralize him.
Out of the 1983 elections came one-party governance under Turgut Özal
Turgut Özal
Halil Turgut Özal was Prime Minister of Turkey and President of Turkey . As Prime Minister, he transformed the economy of Turkey by paving the way for the privatization of many state enterprises.-Early life and career:...
's Motherland Party
Motherland Party (Turkey)
The Motherland Party, was a political party in Turkey. It was founded in 1983 by Turgut Özal. It was merged to Democratic Party in October 2009...
, which combined a neoliberal economic program with conservative social values.
Yildirim Akbulut
Yildirim Akbulut
Yıldırım Akbulut is a Turkish politician, who was a leader of the Anavatan Partisi , a former Prime Minister of Turkey and twice the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.-Biography:...
became the head of the Parliament. He was succeeded in 1991 by Mesut Yılmaz
Mesut Yilmaz
Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz is the former leader of the Motherland Party and was the Turkish prime minister in the 1990s.Mesut Yılmaz was a rising star in the Motherland Party of Turgut Özal, representing the Black Sea province of Rize in the parliament and serving as tourism minister in Ozal's cabinet...
. Meanwhile, Süleyman Demirel founded the center-right True Path Party
True Path Party
The Democratic Party , abbreviated to DP, is a centre-right, conservative Turkish political party, established by Suleyman Demirel in 1983 as the Right Path Party...
in 1983, and returned to active politics after the 1987 Turkish referendum.
Yılmaz redoubled Turkey's economic profile, converting towns like Gaziantep
Gaziantep
Gaziantep , Ottoman Turkish: Ayintab) previously and still informally called Antep; ʻayn tāb is a city in southeast Turkey and amongst the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. The city is located 185 kilometres northeast of Adana and 127 kilometres by road north of Aleppo, Syria...
from small provincial capitals into mid-sized economic boomtowns, and renewed its orientation toward Europe
Foreign relations of Turkey
Foreign relations of the Republic of Turkey are the Turkish government's policies in its external relations with the international community...
. But political instability followed as the host of banned politicians reentered politics, fracturing the vote, and the Motherland Party became increasingly corrupt. Ozal, who succeeded Evren as President of Turkey, died of a heart attack in 1993 and Süleyman Demirel was elected president.
The Özal government empowered the police force
General Directorate of Security
The General Directorate of Security are the civilian police force responsible for law enforcement in Turkey.-Structure:In the provinces, it operates under the command of governors and district governors . Civil administrators are responsible for the security and wellbeing of towns and districts...
with intelligence capabilities to counter the National Intelligence Organization, which at the time was run by the military. The police force even engaged in external intelligence collection.
American involvement
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
formulated the Truman Doctrine
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by U.S. President Harry S Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere...
to prevent European countries from being pulled into the Soviet sphere of influence
Sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
. As "the West's easternmost bulwark against communism", Turkey was an especially "strategic ally in the containment of Soviet communism". To this end, the United States set up a secret paramilitary network under Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
whose members were trained to subvert a possible Soviet invasion, and stage false flag
False flag
False flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is flying the flag of a country other than one's own...
attacks that would be pinned on communists. Anti-communist groups were also funded to debilitate communism's support from within. The name of the Turkish branch of the operation was revealed by Prime Minister Ecevit in 1974 to be the "Counter-Guerrilla
Counter-Guerrilla
Counter-Guerrilla is the Turkish branch of Operation Gladio, a clandestine stay-behind anti-communist initiative backed by the United States as an expression of the Truman Doctrine. The founding goal of the operation was to erect a guerrilla force capable of countering a possible Soviet invasion...
".
Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
, Washington had lost its main ally in the region, while the Carter doctrine
Carter Doctrine
The Carter Doctrine was a policy proclaimed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter in his State of the Union Address on January 23, 1980, which stated that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf region...
, formulated on 23 January 1980 stated that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
region. Turkey received large sums of economic aid mainly organized by the OECD and military aid from the NATO but the USA in particular. Between 1979 and 1982 the OECD countries raised $4 billion in economic aid to Turkey.
Washington started developing the Rapid Deployment Forces (RDF) in implementation of the Carter doctrine, for a quick intervention in areas outside NATO, particularly in the Persian Gulf, and without having to rely on NATO troops. On 1 October 1979 President Jimmy Carter announced the foundation of the RDF. One day before the military coup of 12 September 1980 some 3,000 American troops of the RDF started a maneuver Anvil Express on Turkish soil. Just before the coup, the general in charge of the Turkish Air Forces had travelled to the United States. At the end of 1981 a Turkish-American Defense Council was founded. Defense Minister Ümit Haluk and Richard Perle
Richard Perle
Richard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...
, then US Assistant Secretary of Defense international security policy
United States Assistant Secretary of Defense
Assistant Secretary of Defense is a title used for many executive positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the United States Department of Defense. Reorganization Plan No.6 of 30 June 1953 increased the number of assistant secretaries...
of the new Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
, and the deputy Chief of Staff Necdet Öztorun participated in its first meeting on 27 April 1982. On 9 October 1982 a "Memorandum of Understanding" was signed with a focus of extending airports mainly in the Southeast for military purposed. Such airports were built in the provinces of Batman
Batman Province
Batman Province is a Turkish province southeast of Anatolia. The province's population exceeded 500,000 in 2010.The province is important because of its reserves and production of oil which was started in the 1940s. There is a 494-km long oil pipeline from Batman to the Turkish port of İskenderun....
, Muş
Mus Province
Muş Province is a province in eastern Turkey. It is 8,196 km² in area, and has a population of 406,886 . The population was 453,654 in 2000. The provincial capital is the city of Muş...
, Bitlis
Bitlis Province
Bitlis Province is a province of eastern Turkey, located to the west of Lake Van.-History:Bitlis was formed as an administrative district in the 17th Century...
, Van
Van Province
Van Province is a province in eastern Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. It is 19,069 km2 in area and had a population of 1,035,418 at the end of 2010....
and Kars
Kars Province
Kars Province is a province of Turkey, located in the northeastern part of the country. It shares part of its border with the Republic of Armenia.The provinces of Ardahan and Iğdır were until the 1990s part of Kars Province.-History:...
in the south-east.
The U.S. support of this coup was acknowledged by the CIA Ankara station chief
Station Chief
Station Chief is a term for certain officials who are appointed as chief of a 'station', i.e. a stationary post, of various natures.-Colonial:...
Paul Henze. After the government was overthrown, Henze cabled Washington, saying, "our boys [in Ankara] did it." This has created the impression that the USA stood behind the coup. Henze denied this during a June 2003 interview on CNN Türk
CNN Turk
CNN Türk is the Turkish version of the popular cable news channel CNN. CNN Türk is a nationwide channel broadcasting exclusively in Turkey, owned by Time Warner and Doğan Medya Grubu, broadcasting since October 11, 1999. It has its headquarters in Istanbul....
's Manşet, but two days later Birand presented an interview with Henze recorded in 1997 in which he basically confirmed Mehmet Ali Birand's story. The US State Department itself announced the coup during the night between 11 and 12 September: the military had phoned the US embassy in Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
to alert them of the coup an hour in advance.
After the coup, State Security Courts were set up, as prescribed in U.S. Army Field Manual 31-15: Operations Against Irregular Forces (translated into Turkish in 1965 as ST 31-15: Ayaklanmaları Bastırma Harekâtı); the Counter-Guerrilla's bible. According to senior PKK member Selahattin Çelik, the coup showed "the State Security Courts are a product of the Special Warfare Department and they are assigned the task of restructuring the judicial process to fit the demands of the contra-guerrillas." The manual instructs the courts "not to condemn the defendants according to the punishments set out for the political crimes, but to administer punishments as severe as those set out for murder and other crimes against the person". Severe punishments were indeed legion in the wake of the coup.
Imprisoned Grey Wolves members were offered amnesty if they agreed to fight the Kurdistan Workers Party
Kurdistan Workers Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party , commonly known as PKK, also known as KGK and formerly known as KADEK or KONGRA-GEL , is a Kurdish organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdistan and greater cultural and political rights...
(PKK) in the south-east of the country as well as the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia or ASALA was an Armenian nationalist militant organization, that operated from 1975 to 1986. The group also operated under other names such as The Orly Group and the 3 October Organization...
(ASALA). They then went on to fight separatist Kurds, under the guidance of the "Counter-Guerrilla
Counter-Guerrilla
Counter-Guerrilla is the Turkish branch of Operation Gladio, a clandestine stay-behind anti-communist initiative backed by the United States as an expression of the Truman Doctrine. The founding goal of the operation was to erect a guerrilla force capable of countering a possible Soviet invasion...
", killing and torturing thousands in the 1980s, and also carrying "false flag
False flag
False flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is flying the flag of a country other than one's own...
attacks in which the Counter-Guerrilla attacked villages, dressed up as PKK fighters, and raped and executed people randomly". The dirty war
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
had a toll of 37,000 victims. Retired staff lieutenant colonel Talat Turhan, who has devoted three decades to exposing the Counter-Guerrilla, confirmed that they had engaged in torture, having been a victim in July 1972. In his book Zordur Zorda Gülmek, journalist Oğuz Güven enumerated the methods employed, including but not limited to bastinado, urination
Urination
Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, peeing, weeing, pissing, and more rarely, emiction, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans the process of urination is under voluntary control...
, and submersion in sewage.
Based on incidents such as the aforementioned, a growing number of people are reaching the conclusion that the United States, acting through the Counter-Guerrilla, directed the coup.
Movies
- 1986 - Sen Türkülerini Söyle (Şerif GörenSerif GörenŞerif Gören is a Turkish film director. Aside from important films under his own signature, he is also the winner of the Palme d'Or award in Cannes Film Festival in 1982 for the film Yol, which he had directed on behalf of Yılmaz Güney, who at the time was serving a prison sentence for the murder...
) - 1986 - Dikenli Yol (Zeki AlasyaZeki AlasyaZeki Alasyam is a Turkish actor and director. Alasya is of Turkish Cypriot descent and is the cousin of Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kamil Pasha....
) - 1986 - Prenses (Sinan ÇetinSinan ÇetinSinan Çetin is a Turkish actor, film director, and producer.Çetin was born as the son of a customs officer and studied art history at Hacettepe University. Çetin has produced full-length films and television series, and foremost, commercials...
) - 1986 - Ses (Zeki Ökten)
- 1987 - Av Zamanı (Erden KıralErden KıralErden Kıral is a Turkish film director and screenwriter. He has directed 12 films since 1978. His 1983 film A Season in Hakkari was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize...
) - 1987 - Kara Sevdalı Bulut (Muammer Özer)
- 1988 - Sis (Zülfü LivaneliZülfü LivaneliÖmer Zülfü Livanelioğlu is a popular Turkish folk musician , a novelist, newspaper columnist and a film director who has been highly popular for decades...
) - 1988 - Kimlik (Melih Gülgen)
- 1989 - Bütün Kapılar Kapalıydı (Memduh ÜnMemduh ÜnMemduh Ün is a Turkish film producer, director, actor and screenwriter. His film The Broken Pots was entered into the 11th Berlin International Film Festival.-External links:...
) - 1989 - Uçurtmayı Vurmasınlar (Tunç BaşaranTunç BasaranTunç Başaran is a Turkish screenwriter, film director, film producer and actor.- Biography :After attending the Faculty of Literature for a while he left school and started working as a script writer for the director Memduh Ün. He then continued to be the assistant of Memduh Ün for a long time...
) - 1990 - Bekle Dedim Gölgeye (Atıf YılmazAtif YilmazAtıf Yılmaz Batıbeki was a renowned Turkish Kurdish film director, screenwriter and film producer. He was almost a legend in the film industry of Turkey with 119 movies directed. He also wrote 53 screenplays and produced 28 movies since 1951. He was active in almost every period of the Turkish...
) - 1991 - Uzlaşma (Oğuzhan Tercan)
- 1994 - Babam Askerde (Handan İpekçiHandan IpekçiHandan İpekçi is a Turkish screenwriter and film director.-Education:Handan İpekçi studied Radio and Television Studies at Gazi University, Faculty of Communication in Ankara...
) - 1995 - 80. Adım (Tomris Giritlioğlu)
- 1998 - Gülün Bittiği Yer (İsmail Güneş)
- 1999 - Eylül Fırtınası (Atıf YılmazAtif YilmazAtıf Yılmaz Batıbeki was a renowned Turkish Kurdish film director, screenwriter and film producer. He was almost a legend in the film industry of Turkey with 119 movies directed. He also wrote 53 screenplays and produced 28 movies since 1951. He was active in almost every period of the Turkish...
) - 2000 - Coup/Darbe - A Documentary History of the Turkish Military Interventions (Documentary, Elif Savaş Felsen)
- 2004 - Vizontele TuubaVizontele TuubaVizontele Tuuba is a 2004 Turkish comedy-drama film, written and directed by Yılmaz Erdoğan, based on the writer-director's childhood memories of the last summer of his childhood in village in 1980...
(Yılmaz ErdoğanYilmaz ErdoganYılmaz Erdoğan is a Turkish filmmaker, actor and poet, who is most famous for his box-office record-breaking debut comedy film Vizontele and the television series Bir Demet Tiyatro ....
) - 2005 - Babam ve Oğlum (Çağan IrmakCagan IrmakÇağan Irmak is a Turkish film and television writer and director, who has managed to attract a large audience in Turkey and is best known for the TV series Çemberimde Gül Oya and Asmalı Konak , and for the hit films Alone and My Father and My Son , for which he received Turkish Cinema Writers...
) - 2006 - Beynelmilel (Sırrı Süreyya ÖnderSırrı Süreyya ÖnderSırrı Süreyya Önder is a Turkish fim director, actor, screen writer, columnist, and an MP elected in the Turkish general election, 2011.-References:...
) - 2006 - Eve Dönüş (Ömer Uğur)
- 2007 - Zincirbozan (Atıl İnaçAtil InacIleri Atil Cayan Inac aka Atil Inac is a Turkish film writer and director.-Early life:Born into a filmmaker family, his mother a screenwriter, and father a producer, Inac went to the United States for high school education. Upon graduation, he studied philosophy at the University of...
) - 2008 - O... Çocukları (Murat Saraçoğlu)
Television series
- 2004 - Çemberimde Gül Oya
- 2007 - Hatırla SevgiliHatirla SevgiliHatırla Sevgili was a Turkish TV series broadcast on channel ATV Turkey. The series started on October 27th 2006 on the Turkish TV channel ATV, aired on Friday evenings at 22:15 hrs local time....
- 2009 - Bu Kalp Seni Unutur Mu?
Music
- Cem KaracaCem KaracaMuhtar Cem Karaca , also called Cem Baba , was a prominent Turkish rock musician and one of the most important figures in the Anatolian rock movement.-Biography:...
(1992), maNgaMaNgaManga is a Turkish nu metal band whose music is mainly a fusion of Anatolian melodies with electronic elements. In 2009, they won both the Best Turkish Act award from MTV Turkey and consequently the Best European Act award from MTV Networks Europe in MTV Europe Music Awards 2009...
(2006), Ayben (2008), 'Raptiye Rap Rap' (1992) - Fikret KızılokFikret KizilokFikret Kızılok was a Turkish musician. He was a pioneer of Turkish rock music and an early experimentalist...
'Demirbaş' (1995) - Grup YorumGrup YorumGrup Yorum is a Turkish band known for their political songwriting. Grup Yorum has released nineteen albums since 1987. Some of the group's concerts and albums were banned over the years, and some of the group members were arrested or tortured. Yorum remains popular and their albums continue to...
: Büyü - (Composed in memory of Erdal Eren) - Hasan Mutlucan, 'Yine de Şahlanıyor'
- Mor ve ÖtesiMor ve ÖtesiMor ve Ötesi is a Turkish alternative rock band from Istanbul. Its four current members are Harun Tekin , Kerem Kabadayı , Burak Güven and Kerem Özyeğen . Former members include Alper Tekin and Derin Esmer...
, 'Darbe' (2006) - Ozan Arif, Yaşıyor Kenan Paşa
- Ozan Arif, 'Seksenciler'
- Ozan Arif, 'Muhasebe'(12 Eylül)
- Ozan Arif, Bir İt Vardı
- Sexen, A.D. September 12th Listen
- Sexen, Censored Inc. (Album, 2009) Listen
- Sezen AksuSezen AksuSezen Aksu is a Turkish pop music singer, song-writer and producer who sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and Minik Serçe ....
, 'Son Bakış' (1989) - Suavi 'Eylül' (1996)
- Teoman and Yavuz BingölYavuz BingölYavuz Bingöl is in the folk realm of Turkish music and is also an actor.He was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1964.He was in several miniseries on Turkish TV, including Bayanlar Baylar, Ah Be İstanbul and Yanık Koza. He also did the romance series Zerda and the sitcom Esref Saati...
, 'İki Çocuk' (2006) - Özdemir Erdoğan, 'Gurbet Türküsü'
See also
- 1960 Turkish coup d'état
- 1971 Turkish coup d'état
- 1997 military memorandum (Turkey)
- List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
- List of conflicts in the Middle East