The Turkish army at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s: from left-wing conspiracy to right-wing coup

Abstract

This is the first paper in Russian historiography dedicated to the struggle of left and right groups in the Turkish army on the eve of a military coup on March 12, 1971. By 1970, an alliance of leftist intellectuals and officers was formed, led by the editor of the Devrim newspaper, Dogan Avjioglu and one of the organizers of the 1960 coup, a retired lieutenant general Jemal Madanoglu, received the conditional name of the organization of national revolutionaries. The members of the organization sought to approve the socialist system of the bassist type in the country and outlined the number of military coups March 9, 1971. However, the death of one and the opportunist position of two other leaders of the military wing led to the failure of the attempt of a leftist coup. On the contrary, on March 12, 1971, a right-wing military coup took place in Turkey. In the course of subsequent repressions, a powerful blow was dealt to the left groups in the army and in Turkish society as a whole. In an effort to end the repression and achieve consensus in society, moderately leftist forces led by B. Ejevit entered into a coalition with their opponents religious conservatives led by N. Erbakan.