How the failed coup of 2016 changed the relationship between the Turkiye | Turkey Tried Coup News

Istanbul, Turkey – Around 19:30 GMT on July 15, 2016, the Turkish army. he started a concerted attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

But within hours, attempts to seize tanks and warplanes had been foiled. Thousands of people poured into the streets of the big cities, joining the loyalist army and police forces, and the masses of authorities, in defeating the putschists.

The coup attempt 10 years ago was not only the bloodiest in modern Turkish history – 250 were killed and more than 2,200 injured – but also a moment that changed the relationship between the country’s government and the military.

“The failure of July 15 had three pillars,” said retired Colonel Unal Atabay.

“Resistance of the people, officers, non-commissioned officers and Turkish soldiers who refused to take over the government, and the army itself.”

Military intervention has disrupted Turkish politics for decades.

The military overthrew governments in the 1960s and 1980s; intervened through a memorial in 1971; and forced another elected government from office in what became known as the “Post-Modern Coup” of 1997.

Although civilian rule returns after the coup, the military remains one of the most influential institutions in Turkey, seeing itself as the guardian of the Republic’s founding principles.

However, this is not how the founders of the republic thought of military relations. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Ismet Inonu, both major figures during the War of Independence in the early 1920s, entered politics after leaving the military.

“If the military had remained involved in politics, it would have likely been exploited by various groups in the uncertain and weak conditions of the early years of the republic.” They discovered the most correct and said that the military should not interfere in politics.

Politician Ali Carkoglu said that the separation between the military and civilian politics is considered one of the founding principles of the Republic, calling it “the most accurate realization”.

However, over time, the soldiers came to see themselves as protectors of the state, and repeatedly appealed to this position to accept political involvement.

But 10 years after the last attempt, few experts believe that Turkiye will face another attack.

“You don’t say no,” said Howard Eissenstat, a Turkish expert at St Lawrence University in New York. “But betting on an army in Turkey is a waste of money.”

Although the role of the military in politics appears to have diminished, the effects of the post-coup terrorist revolution are still a matter of debate.

Reducing the military’s political influence was already a major goal of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AK Party, when it came to power in 2002.

After years of conflict and military establishment, the government expanded civilian oversight – and a failed coup furthered the process.

Ankara criticized a group of Islamic scholars in the United States Fethullah Gulendesignated by the Turkish government as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), planning a coup attempt. Thousands of soldiers, judges, police, teachers and civil servants were fired or arrested. Military schools were replaced by the National Defense University, administrative agencies were reformed, and civilian oversight of the armed forces was expanded.

Atabay said the change has also changed the relationship between the military, the government and the people.

He added that the military has strengthened its internal surveillance after the takeover to prevent further planned infiltration, noting that armed groups and civilians are now on alert to try to infiltrate government institutions.

“A strong outer space can do this all the time,” he said. “What is important is to identify them early, expose them and create a way that prevents them from entering the government.”

For Carkoglu, however, the military cannot be evaluated separately from the health of Turkey’s democratic institutions.

He also said that bringing the armed forces firmly under civilian control is essential. But civilian rule alone, he argued, does not mean inclusive democracy.

He said: “It is really helpful that the authorities have established a great deal of control over the military. “But if this is due to democracy, then, perhaps, it will be a bad result for Turkey’s politics.”

Carkoglu also said that institutions gain legitimacy not from those who govern them, but from citizens’ trust in them.

“The successful development of trust in institutions requires competitive politics and the ability to speak freely,” he said. “Otherwise, organizations start to lose faith.”

That debate has intensified in recent years.

The arrest of several opposition mayors – including the mayor of Istanbul and the presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Ekrem Imamoglualong with the investigation of opposition politics, it has fueled opposition from political parties and libertarian organizations, who argue that the judicial system is being used too much against their opponents.

The government denies the charges saying that the investigation is conducted independently and is based only on evidence of wrongdoing.

The debate has taken place at a time when politics continues to be interesting. Since coming to power in 2002, the AK Party has won parliamentary elections, most recently in 2023, while the ruling People’s Alliance maintained its parliamentary majority.

Rights groups, too, focus on another legacy of the coup.

Human Rights Watch says the emergency powers that were introduced after the 2016 trial gradually turned into more restrictions on human rights. It says the crackdown has outlasted those who tried to topple it, leaving many sacked civil servants unable to rebuild their professional lives even after being released.

The government said the measures were necessary to dismantle secretive networks in the state and prevent Turkiye from facing a similar threat.

Ten years later, that effort continues. On Monday, just two days before the anniversary, Turkish authorities launched a joint operation in all 81 provinces to target nearly 1,000 people suspected of having ties to FETO.

For the government, it was another reminder that what happened in July 2016 remained a matter of national security and not a closed issue in the history of the country.