Post-2016 military restructuring in Turkey from the perspective of coup-proofing

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the post-2016 military reforms and examines the meaning of civilian oversight and control that these reforms have brought. For almost two decades, the establishment of civilian supremacy over the military has been discussed in terms of democratic control of the armed forces. The article claims that although the post-2016 reforms installed civilian supremacy, they diverge from this approach significantly. Instead, they display the basic characteristics of coup-proofing strategies. The article aims to ignite scholarly interest in and initiate discussions on the conceptual appropriateness of the notion of coup-proofing for capturing Turkey’s civil–military relations since 15 July 2016.