Comparative Study between the 2016 Failed Military Coup and Previous Successful Coups in Turkey

Abstract

The 2016 Turkish failed coup attempt was a striking political event of the year. Although Turkey is a country with a long history of successful military intervention and deep-rooted coup culture, the coup organizers could not achieve the desired outcome in 2016. The coups of 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997 have resulted in the government's change where the military played an important role by influencing the political sphere. However, the result was different in the coup attempt carried out on 15 July 2016. As the President, a large segment of military, political parties and a significant part of the society had an anti-coup attitude and stood up against the military coup. For this reason, the thesis attempts to compare the 2016 Turkish failed coup with the previous successful coups of 1960, 1971, 1980, and 1997's in Turkey. The comparison is based on the hypotheses built on four civil-military relation theories and concepts: Military Professionalism, Civilian Supremacy, Social Cohesion and Public Institutionalism. According to the analyses, the findings indicate that the theories of Civilian Supremacy and Public Institutionalism better explain the failure of 2016 and the success of the previous coups than other theories.