Turkey, Working‐Class Protest, 1960–1980

Abstract

The Turkish military launched a coup d'état on May 27, 1960. The leaders of the Democratic Party (DP), Adnan Menderes, Hasan Polatkan, and Fatin Rüstü Zorlu, were executed after trial. Although this coup had many causes, including repression of the regime, allegations of corruption against the rulers, dependency on foreign powers, and attacks on Kemalist principles in general and secularism in particular were important factors. May 1960 was the first time the military intervened in Turkish civilian politics. Since Ottoman times the army has played a major role in the political life of the country. The DP's policy of de‐bureaucratizing meant official elites lost not only their representation in parliament and their close links with political elites, but also much of their economic power, prestige, and influence. There is agreement among many researchers that the 1960 coup demonstrated the quest of the military‐bureaucratic elite to return to the center, to revive its diminishing role in the nation's politics.