Coup Attempt Research Articles

What are the Drivers of Constitutional Change in Turkey?


 
 
 This paper explores the reasons for the last constitutional reform in Turkey. This paper argues that the strong Presidency in the 1982 constitution and 2007 amendments paved the way for the presidential reform in Turkey and the internal fragmentation and weakening tutelage of the military opened a window for institutional change. The power of Erdogan for mobilization of masses and the strong personalization of power around him provided a resource for the last constitutional reform. The failed coup attempt on 15 July 2016 triggered the regime change. The study was conducted by employing the method of causal process tracing and the theory of windows of opportunity as well as different approaches of path-dependence. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the reasons for the institutional change by considering its historical and political context.
 
 

Little prayer: Ambiguous grief in the LGBTQIA+ movement in Turkey

Inspired by a Danez Smith poem, this essay is a ‘little prayer’ for LGBTQIA+ people and organizers to be able to collectively grieve the family and friends they have lost, the relations they had to end, the social privileges they never had, or lost before and after sharing their queerness. It argues for the militant force of this slow-paced, ghostly, and ambiguous grief in queer lives, and in the LGBTQIA+ movements in Turkey and elsewhere. The author draws on 4 years of organizing at Boysan’ s House – a living memory space, and community hub in Istanbul – and the 12-hour oral history conducted with Mother Sema, who has been mobilizing her motherhood and her grief as a pro-LGBTQIA+ organizer since 2006. The essay suggests that ambiguous grief can be relearned and re-membered as a radically transformative force that is already constitutive of queer communities. It situates the histories and presents of Mother Sema and Boysan’s House amid diverse experiences of resilience and resistance through motherhood, queer kin making, and mourning. In so doing, the essay builds on the militant activisms of the Saturday Mothers/People, the Peace Mothers, the organized family members of LGBTQIA+ people, and the trans communities in Turkey. It is thus an inquiry into ways of housing and transforming ambiguous grief in the LGBTQIA+ movement, in the post-July 2016 coup attempt Turkey.

Moving beyond Binary Discourses: Islamic Universalism from an Islamic Revivalist Movement’s Point of View

The resurgence of religion worldwide proved that secularization is not a de facto reality of modernity and the initial chaos that came along with the birth of postmodernity evolved into uniquely developing combinations that recognized cosmopolitan, multicultural, and hybrid (i.e., fluid and hyphenated) identities. Universal values became more instrumental than ever to connect members of hyper diverse societies while ethnocentric, nativist and exclusivist patriotism expired (and only recently starting to attract far right and white supremacist groups alone). Most Islamic revivalist movements emerging from this context have had minimal interactions with non-Muslims and influence on mainstream societies. Being in search of a solution to respond to the overwhelming effects of the West on Muslim societies, these revivalist movements could not change (and maybe contributed to) the binary positioning of Islam and the West. On the contrary, the Hizmet movement, inspired by Muhammed Fethullah Gülen and his predecessor Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, appeared in the global arena as an Islamic revivalist movement whose discourse resonated with the commonly shared universal values of every culture, ethnicity, and religion. The Hizmet movement did not position itself as an antithesis to Westernization, secularism, and modernity; the movement adopted a universalist and all-inclusive attitude, which re-introduced to the world that Islam is universal religion with the capacity to accommodate people of diversity and meet the needs of every age. This paper explores the Hizmet movement’s historical, theological, and social roots as a transnational Islamic revivalist movement. It analyzes the movement’s outreach across multicultural societies and its capability to adapt to a changing world through its educational and interfaith and intercultural activities across the globe. While unpacking thirty years of the Hizmet movement’s activities and the contribution to the literature, the paper also addresses some of the criticisms that have emerged regarding the movement and its activities, particularly in the wake of the 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey. It should be noted that much criticism toward the movement emerged in recent years, and the movement did not face much backlash in its early years of development. With this in mind, this paper explores the development of the Hizmet movement and how much of its initiatives rapidly left a positive mark on diverse societies around the world. The paper is thus structured chronologically, tracing the birth, growth, stagnation, and transition (or according to some collapse) of the movement. The paper, by extension, too, positions the Hizmet movement within the phenomenon of contemporary Islamic revivalism as this movement is born out of similar conditions as are other Islamic revivalist movements but taking a slightly different direction, which is that it challenges the prevailing binary ‘us and them’ discourses produced mostly in ethno-centric political discourses.

Erdoğan and Religious Movements after the 2016 Coup Attempt in Turkey: The Case of Adnan Oktar

Erdoğan and Religious Movements after the 2016 Coup Attempt in Turkey: The Case of Adnan Oktar

Critical Junctures of Securitisation: The Case of the AK Party in Turkey

Authoritarian leaders try to create an environment conducive to the maintenance of their own ontological security. In this study, we advance a theory of tripartite securitization marked by critical junctures that shed light on how authoritarian actors establish a sense of security for themselves when they govern. Using elite interviews with actors from Turkey’s different political parties, we argue that the three major steps towards authoritarianism in Turkey involved restructuring core institutions and ‘cleansing’ them of the perceived hostile elements; doubling down on securitising existing internal and external ‘enemy’ identities; and securitising rivals that cannot be co-opted in the political process. This tripartite securitization starts with what we call ‘desecuritisation of the self’ in cases where the party in power itself was once the target of securitising acts. We trace how tripartite securitisation has unfolded in Turkey under the AK Party government, and we identify three critical junctures associated with this securitisation process: The Ergenekon and Balyoz Trials, the KCK Trials and the 2016 Failed Coup Attempt.

15 Temmuz Darbe Girişiminde İletişim Araçlarının Rolü ve Yabancı Basın

Darbe ve darbe girişimleri aracılığıyla Askerin siyasete müdahalesi Türk siyasetinde sıkça görülen bir olgudur. Osmanlı İmparatorluğunun gerileme devrinde Cumhuriyet dönemine kadar asker, çeşitli gerekçelerle siyasete müdahale etmiştir. Cumhuriyet döneminde yaşanan ilk darbe 27 Mayıs 1960 darbesidir ve bundan sonra neredeyse her 10 yılda bir tekrar eden bir duruma dönüşmüştür. Bu sürecin son halkası, 15 Temmuz 2016’da gerçekleşen darbe girişimi olmuştur. 15 Temmuz Darbe Girişimi, alışıldığın dışında bir gelişme seyri izlemiş ve ilk defa halkın kararlı duruşu sayesinde başarısız olmuştur. Darbelerin gerçekleşme ve meşrulaştırılma sürecinde medya ve iletişim araçları oldukça önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Özellikle 27 Mayıs darbesi ile başlayıp 28 Şubat Postmodern darbesine kadar devam eden süreçte medya, darbecilerin toplumsal meşruiyet zemini oluşturmalarına önemli ölçüde katkı sunmuştur. Fakat internet teknolojilerinin gelişimi, akıllı telefonların yaygınlaşan kullanımı, özel kanalların kurulması ve bağımsız medyanın gelişmesi ilk defa darbenin başarısız olmasında önemli bir rol oynamıştır. Farklı eğilimlere sahip onlarca TV kanalı, internet haberciliği, akıllı telefonlar aracılığıyla halkın kendi arasında haberleşme imkanı darbecilerin önceden olduğu gibi medyayı kontrol edebilmelerinin önünü kesmiş ve darbe ile ilgili durum tersine dönmüştür. Bu bağlamda çalışma 15 Temmuz darbe girişiminde medya ve iletişim araçlarının rolünü ve bu girişimin yabancı basındaki yansımalarını incelemektedir.

Critically assessing the contours of relations between the AKP and Islamic movements after the July 15 coup attempt: the Furkan Vakfi case

In Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian context, which minimizes any serious chance of making political gains, challenging common conceptions of political power may expand our understanding of power dynamics. This article draws upon historical perspectives to track the power dynamics and political relations of religious movements inside and outside the legitimate forms of politics in Turkey. It provides insights into how political power is being reframed through religious movements and vice versa. It also examines the history of Turkey’s religious movements and their relationship with the government since 1925. It also discusses how the state-religion relationship has changed since the rise of the Justice and Development Party (Adaletve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) and the 2016 coup attempt. It presents a case study of Furkan Vakfı and its leader, Alparslan Kuytul, who vehemently opposed the government and is now regarded as a threat by Erdoğan and the AKP.

“Otherness” and Self-Censorship in the Land of Coups: Greek Correspondents in Turkey Pre- and Post-Coup Attempt

ABSTRACT Greek correspondents are a unique species among the other foreign correspondents based in Turkey, due to their nationality; they have a delicate role of “otherness” since their home and host countries are neighbors with a long history of fragile relations. Set within the frame of the failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016, this research localizes the differences in the Greek correspondents’ job before and after the failed coup attempt bearing their “otherness”. Based on the collection of primary data through in-depth semi-structured interviews with all the Greek correspondents in Turkey, the findings were conceptualized within the Actor–Network Theory combined with the framework of Histoire Croisée. The results revealed that after the failed coup attempt their work has deteriorated by four major changes: encumbrance of their journalistic role due to their “otherness”, increase of self-censorship, more workload due to higher demand for stories and extinction of governmental and diplomatic sources. This research claims that the identity of the “opponent otherness” is a key factor aggravating the practices of foreign correspondents in times of political crises; lastly, it is revealed that when democracy is backsliding, local and foreign journalism are becoming parallelly ill and present a causality effect.

Stability and change in the organisation of collective memory representations

ABSTRACT In this study, we investigated the impact of a highly consequential public event, the July 15 Coup Attempt, on the structure and organisation of events in Turkish collective memory. To do this, we followed up on our earlier work (Mutlutürk, Tekcan, & Boduroglu, 2021) that used the multidimensional scaling approach to identify critical dimensions in public event representational space. Participants rated the similarity of 15 key public events in a pairwise fashion, across three waves of data collection. They were also asked to report for which political party they had voted in the most recent election. We replicated our earlier results that public events were distinguished based on their political and nonpolitical characteristics; political events were clustered based on their specific attributes. Despite substantial stability in the organisation of collective memories across three time points, the post-coup representational space among voters of the ruling party changed, eliminating clusters within the political dimension and resulting in the ruling party achieving a central and anchor status. These findings suggest that, transformative events may have the potential to impact the structure and organisation of collective memory representations and sociopolitical identity may have to do with the stability of collective memories.

Din Referanslı Hareketlerin Sosyo-Politik Bağlamda Karşılaştırması: Evanjelizm ve Gülenizm (FETÖ) Örneği

Religion, social, political, cultural, economic etc. It is functional in many ways. Religion is sometimes the main factor in the construction of a movement/group. Sometimes it functions as the glue of a movement. However, religion is sometimes extremely influential and critical in developing movements. Since religion is an important and highly effective social phenomenon, the function it assumes in the socio-political paradigm of movements fed/powered by religion can gain a vital dimension. Evangelicalism and Gulenism* (Fetullah Terrorist Organization - FETÖ), which are the subject of the study, are among these movements in which religion is the main factor or reference. Evangelism, which emerged in the Protestant sect in the context of Christianity, and Gulenism, which made Islamic teachings and arguments functional, draw attention to their similar aspects in terms of socio-political attitudes that differ and alienate from the religious tradition they refer to. In this context, it is revealed that both movements have some similarities or parallels in terms of establishment and development course, structuring and national and global scale socio-politics, goals, discourses, activities, and strategies. The study focuses on revealing the püre similarity context of the movements in question within the socio-political framework. The method and point of view of the sociology of religion are used while presenting the findings, data, or arguments for the similarities between evangelism and Gulenism. In this context, documentation, one of the qualitative methods of indirect observation, was preferred. With the indirect observation made on the documents, the documents within the scope of the subject were first scanned, the relevant parts were classified, and then all the data/findings were placed in a systematic framework. These systematic data/findings about the similarities between Gulenism and Evangelicalism have been put forward with an understanding approach, a sociological perspective, and comparative analysis. In addition, religious-referenced movements are limited to the comparison of Gulenism and Evangelicalism and their only similar or parallel features. In the study, In what ways do evangelicalism and Gulenism have similarities or parallels in the socio-political context? What similarities do movements have in terms of establishment, course of development, structuring, and methodological perspective? What kind of similarities or parallels do the movements have in terms of socio-political, discourse, activities, goals, and strategies on a national and global scale? Problematic is analyzed in detail. At this point, the importance of comparative evaluation or analysis of religious movements in the field of sociology of religion and the thought that this perspective will contribute to the relevant literature reveals the originality and importance of the study. As a matter of fact, revealing the differences or similarities of religious movements gives a multidimensional appearance and perspective to the sociology of religious movements/groups and can also correspond to a need in this sense. The study is based on the conclusion that Gulenism and Evangelicalism are similar in many aspects. * 10 Questions to Understand July 15 Coup Attempt and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization. Ankara: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı Yayınları, 2016. https://www.tccb.gov.tr/assets/dosya/15Temmuz/onsorudafeto_tr_en.pdf

Power Sharing and Coups d’état in Postconflict Settings: Evidence From Burundi and Guinea-Bissau

In postconflict settings, peace agreements often include power-sharing provisions that integrate formerly warring parties into the state. The aim of such provisions is to prevent conflict from resuming. At the same time, however, they can inadvertently increase the risk of coups d’état. Existing research identifies a correlation between peace agreements and coups, but the causal mechanisms underlying this association remain underexplored. This article argues that power sharing affects the motives of incumbent elites to intervene in politics via a coup and the opportunity for former rebels to do so successfully. Evidence from coup attempts in Burundi and Guinea-Bissau illustrates the plausibility of these arguments and suggests ways to extend them in future work. While debate remains over whether power sharing prevents civil war recurrence, this article shows how it can create incentives for other forms of political violence.

Civil–Military Relations and Education of Military Elites in Türkiye: Lessons Learned From the Past

This article analyzes the relationship between civil–military relations and professional military education (PME) in Türkiye before the 2016 coup attempt. Its main argument is that an effective PME system could not be realized due to the problematic nature of civil–military relations. The dominant role of the military in politics turned PME into a domain reserved solely for soldiers; however, this autonomy did not help the officer corps to create an effective PME system. Based on historical analyses, this article concludes that civil–military cooperation is necessary for developing a successful PME system, and it endorses Mukherjee’s integrated model. Moreover, it shows that civil–military cooperation for the development of PME is a requirement regardless of the nature of civil–military relations.

The Global Terrorist Threat in the Sahel and the Origins of Terrorism in Burkina Faso

The article examines the reasons for the increasing terrorist activity in Burkina Faso after the revolution in 2014. For decades, the Sahel has been one of the most unstable regions in Africa and the Afrasian zone of instability. However, in the 2010s the Sahel has experienced a dramatic increase in terrorist activity: by 2015, the number of terrorist attacks there increased more than seven times compared to 2010. At the same time, the dynamics of terrorist activity in Burkina Faso had its specific characteristics compared to the rest of the Sahel. The growth of terrorism in this country was largely a consequence of the overthrow of the B. Compaoré regime. The new authorities were unable to maintain security at the same level. This can be explained, on the one hand, by the stable agreements that had been settled between Compaoré and terrorist structures. His resignation destroyed all the informal ties and agreements that the regime had established with regional jihadist organizations, freeing their hands to infiltrate Burkina Faso quickly and easily. On the other hand, the dissolution of the Regiment of Presidential Security (precisely the structure largely responsible for the fight against terrorism) after the failed military coup attempt of September 2015 played an important role. The new leadership stripped the country of the protection they had against jihadist organizations poised to infiltrate across the border into Burkina Faso. As a result, after 2015, a very safe country in terms of terrorism faced an unprecedented increase in terrorist activity.

Erkân-ı Erbaa: 30 Mayıs 1876 Bürokratik Darbesi'nin Organizatörleri

Sultan Abdülaziz’in hükümdarlığının son yıllarında sık sık sadrazam ile vükela değişikliği yaşandı ve Balkanlarda isyanlar görüldü. Tanzimat hareketinin gereği olan reformların devam ettirilmemesi Yeni Osmanlı muhalefetini doğurdu, kendisinin yerine alternatifler aranmasına yol açtı. Hem Abdülaziz’e karşı şahsi hınçları hem de devletin içinde bulunduğu kötü vaziyetin ortadan kaldırılmasını Abdülaziz’i devirmekte gören Erkân-ı Erbaa adlı dörtlü komite teşekkül etti. Karakter yapıları itibari ile birbirine benzemeyen ancak Abdülaziz’i devirme emelinde birleşen bu zevat, iktidar değişim aracı olarak darbeyi yeniden gündeme taşıdı. Medrese talebelerinin ayaklanması ile Seraskerliğe Hüseyin Avni Paşa, Meclis-i Vükelâ üyeliğine Midhat Paşa, Sadarete Mehmed Rüşdü Paşa, Şeyhülislamlığa ise Hayrullah Efendi getirildi. Bu durum devlette bürokratik olarak önemli mevkilere kavuşmuş olan Erkân-ı Erbaa’ya darbe emellerine ulaşmak için büyük bir fırsat verdi. Nitekim bu makamlara gelmelerinden on sekiz gün sonra tertipledikleri darbe ile Abdülaziz tahttan indirildi ve yerine Veliaht Murad padişah yapıldı. Erkân-ı Erbaa darbe konusunda hemfikir olsa da devlet yönetimi konusunda farklı düşüncelere sahipti. Bu görüş ayrılığı tahta geçirdikleri V. Murad’ın hastalığı ile birleşince siyasî ve idarî istikrarsızlık meydana geldi. Bu cümleden olarak darbe eyleminin tabiatı gereği, ortaya çıkan iktidar paylaşımı ve idarî düzenin yeniden kurulma meselesi beraberinde siyasî bir kargaşa meydana getirdi. Öte yandan 30 Mayıs 1876 Darbesi’nin bürokratik elit diye nitelendirilen Erkân-ı Erbaa tarafından başarılmış olması yakın dönem siyasi tarihimizde yaşanacak darbe hareketlerine ilham ve cesaret verecek kötü bir geleneği başlattı. Çalışmanın temel referans noktasını Abdülaziz’i deviren Erkân-ı Erbaa’nın kimler olduğu, darbe eylemine neden kalkıştıkları, bu eylemi nasıl gerçekleştirdikleri oluşturmaktadır. Bu bağlamda Erkân-ı Erbaa’nın kendileri ve darbe eylemine kalkışma nedenleri hakkında farklı görüşlere yer verilerek bir sentez geliştirildi. Makale sonucunda elde edilen bulgulara göre, 30 Mayıs 1876 Bürokratik Darbesi’nin Osmanlı Devleti’nde meydana gelen darbeler arasında benzer özellikler taşıdığı tespit edildi.

Military Defection During the Collapse of the Soviet Union

How did armed forces behave in response to dissent, political instability and territorial disintegration during the collapse of the Soviet Union? To date, substantial attention has been cast on the 1991 August coup attempt, yet our understanding of other potential instances of defection remains incomplete. This study undertakes a comparative analysis of defection throughout 15 Soviet republics. Results reveal that 13 republics experienced subordinates defecting and three experienced commanders defecting. In total, four different pathways led to defection. These findings produce the first comparative observations of defection in this historical time period and lend support to the claim that this phenomenon is equifinal in nature.

The Big Lie(s): Situating the January 6th Coup Attempt Within White Supremacist Lies

Donald Trump’s attempts to retain power despite losing the 2020 presidential election by engaging in a wide-ranging mis/disinformation campaign has been framed as The Big Lie. By framing Trump’s attempts at stealing the election as The Big Lie, it erases the systemic presence of white supremacy and situates all other lies as truths. We utilize critical discourse analysis to construct an intersectional understanding of how Trump utilized lies in preparation for his attempted insurrection. In doing so, we situate these claims within the network of larger lies used to protect whiteness within the United States. Through this work, we highlight how educators can situate white supremacist lies within historical and contemporary racial realism in pursuit of anti-racist civic understanding.

The Morning After: Cabinet Instability and the Purging of Ministers after Failed Coup Attempts in Autocracies

The Morning After: Cabinet Instability and the Purging of Ministers after Failed Coup Attempts in Autocracies

«Новая Большая игра» в Казахстане

The article is devoted to the analysis of the nature of the geopolitical confrontation in Kazakhstan. Geopolitical strategies of multi-domain warfare with "network swarming" are considered. It is emphasized that the May events in the republic represent a well-planned coup attempt and threaten the geopolitical security of Kazakhstan. It is concluded that the turbulent processes in Kazakhstan pose a serious challenge to the national security of Russia.

Shielding Democracy: Foreign Correspondent Coverage Of The 1981 Military Coup Attempt In Spain In The Economist, Time And Newsweek

The role of the international press as an external contributing agent to the consolidation of democratic regime change within emerging democracies is a growing research area within the field of media history and political communication. Within the context of these press/power dynamics, this article analyses the intense coverage made by the influential transatlantic weekly magazines, Time, Newsweek and The Economist of the attempted military coup in Spain in February 1981. It argues that all three publications made editorial decisions and employed narrative strategies –based on contempt for the foiled military uprising, acritical elevation of the young King and the consensual projection of democratic consolidation in the country- in an indirect but strategic contribution to the defence of the institutional stability of a country emerging from 40 years of dictatorship and whose destiny was crucial to wider Cold War geopolitical considerations in the southern Mediterranean at the time.

Don’t turn around, der Kommissar’s in town: Political officers and coups d’état in authoritarian regimes

How do dictators coup-proof their armed forces from within the barracks? Coup-proofing is an important aspect of autocratic survival, but execution can be challenging due to the secrecy of plots and the vast size of the armed forces. Counterbalanced state security forces are more effective at resisting coups, but less effective at noticing signs of plots before they can be launched. If dictators wish to prevent coup attempts from occurring in the first place, they may decide to recruit and commission cadres of loyalists directly into the armed forces as political officers, tasked with monitoring for and reporting signs of disloyalty within the ranks. This article explores the development and use of these political officers within dictatorships, arguing that they are especially effective at preventing coup attempts. It also makes the case that their institutional design, while effective at detecting coup plots, makes them less useful at resisting coups that have reached the execution phase. I test these arguments on a cross-national sample of dictatorships from 1950 to 2010, finding strong evidence that political officers are incredibly effective coup detectors, but not coup resisters. These findings have important implications, particularly as several resilient modern dictatorships continue to rule with well-developed political officer systems.