Explaining the end of military tutelary regime and the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhat were the dynamics behind the July 15 2016 coup attempt in Turkey? At a time when academic literature has been focusing on the dissolution of the country’s military tutelary regime, how can this military coup attempt be explained? As an early response to this unanticipated puzzle, I argue that the success of civilian moves towards the dissolution of the military’s political power contributed – paradoxically – both to the emergence and to the failure of a coup organized by a junta of Gulenist officers and their collaborators. Through a description of the historical evolution of civil–military relations, I explain the dissolution of the military tutelary regime with reference to a combination of push and pull factors. The interaction of these push and pull factors presents the historical context behind the emergence and failure of the July 15 failed coup in Turkey.