CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 41

HRANUSH DERMOYAN
THE 2016 COUP ATTEMPT IN TURKEY:
A RESULT OF CHANGING CIVIL-MILITARY
BALANCE IN TURKEY
Abstract
In 2016 Turkey made headlines with yet another coup, however, this time
with an unsuccessful outcome. While there were many similarities with pre-
vious coups, there were also major diff erences. After the failed coup, people
showed unprecedented support for the civilian government. Military command-
ers of diff erent units made statements assuring their loyalty to the civilian gov-
ernment. Although purges, martial law and arrest followed the coup attempt,
which was nothing new after a military intervention, this time roles had been
reversed. It was the civilian government which purged the military and re-
moved unwanted people. The paper argues that the 2016 military coup attempt
failed as the military’s political power had been weakened following reforms
implemented under the demand of the EU in the 2000s. There was also obvious
fragmentation in the military as only one faction participated in the plot.
Keywords: civil-military relations, coup attempt, fragmentation
Introduction
Military coups, coup d’états and military interventions in politics are
nothing new for Turkey. Since the foundation of the Turkish Republic
in 1923 there have been fi ve successful interventions by the military in
1960, 1971, 1980, 1997 and 2007 as well as a few failed attempts to in-
tervene into politics. Whenever the civilian government failed to main-
tain stability in the country and whenever there was an attempt to devi-
ate from the principles of Kemalism and secularism the Turkish military
intervened to reestablish the order that they thought served the national
interest of the Turkish people best. As the military had an important role
in the establishment of the Turkish Republic the military took the protec-
tion of the national interest upon themselves. By describing to themselves
the role of guardians of secularism and Kemalism the military saw coups
as legitimate interventions. After each intervention, the military’s political
position was further strengthened. One important lever of infl uence under
41