“On the night of July 15, they wanted to bury Turkey in darkness but failed. Allah ruined their traps. I salute every member of our heroic nation who stood against planes, tanks, and bullets to protect the independence of our nation and the future of our country on July 15. Today, if we can speak freely, take a breath, and keep working, we owe it to our martyrs, veterans and all the heroes.”
President of Turkey, Erdogan on the third anniversary of July 15.
By definition, a coup is a precipitous transposition of a people’s government by a consortium belonging to a state-owned institution, typically the military establishment. A coup is lucrative only if the plotters manage to enact supremacy and take control; if it is impeded, either civil war stems or the government reinstates democratic rule. The July 15 coup attempt was more than a botched and a disastrous overthrow. It was conquest and strengthening of the Turkish democratic system. It was the triumph of the world’s most non-violent confrontations counter to one of the most violent rebellion shots. Turkey has endured many coups; nevertheless, not any of them promptly targeted the non-combatants. On July 15, 2015, a religious commune attempted a coup renowned as the “Fetullahist Terrorist Organisation” also known the “Parallel State Structure.” It surreptitiously burgeoned in the squads of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF). This terrorist organisation which insinuated in the forces before the coup d’état was well-known as long as its manifestation was concerned, but the noteworthy matter of alarm was that it could not be branded in terms of its scrupulous individuality and network.
The penetration can be traced back at the beginning of the 1980s. Military high schools were targeted. The vast network of army personnel was under the tight control of FETO imams, who shaped the overall structure of the TAF as far as their secret network occupied crucial positions in the TAF cadres. The imams seized the personnel, counterintelligence, and critical staff positions to influence the decision-making processes behind a curtain. The students had not been aware of other members as it was a perfect sample of a functionally designed network of which the cells reported to their civilian leaders. This terrorist organisation had examined the traditions of the armed forces and its vulnerabilities.
In the beginning, F Gulen developed its philosophical base on the teachings of Said Nursi (a Kurdish Sunni theologian) but later parted his ways. From 1974 onward, he formed his own network and sought strategic allies. Over the years, he has emerged as a “messianic figure” controlling every aspect of the life of his followers. July 15 was not the first time Gulenists were indicted of large-scale sedition and rabble-rousing. FETO/PSS made its first coup attempt in February 2012. The Gulenist prosecutors tried to arrest Chief of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Hakan Fidan due to his involvement in the efforts to resolve the Kurdish issue peacefully. Gulenists tried to sack Hakan Fidan with accusations amounting to treachery. The real reason behind this attempt was to prevent the settlement of Turkey’s long-lasting Kurdish issue through dialogue and negotiation. Their attempt failed, but the Turkish government had to postpone what was called the “Peace Process” for another year.
The media paved the way for the coup in Egypt and were an effective tool in the hand of plotters. On the other hand, the media in Turkey stood against the coup attempt from the very beginning
The Turkish Armed Forces were partially captured internally by a civilian-military unit whose goal was to bring to life the teachings of Fetullah Gulen. The general strategy of FETO was to create a check mechanism on the TAF members and direct them under the agenda of FETO, heavily influenced and collaborated by foreign intelligence services. The character of such an intervention was to hamper the required discourses against the policies of TAF leadership, while FETO strategies injected their organisation’s interest in the TAF.
The chronicle of Turkish coups is a prolonged one. Turkey has also undergone quite a few military intrusions during the Ottoman epoch. Such military intercessions would either end up in the dismissal of Sultan’s Pashas or meeting the pressures of the mutineers thus, ousting of the Sultan. Such Sultans were either assassinated or put into prisons. Over time, numerous Sultans swapped the old-fashioned army with a European standard one; still, the rule of some sultans could not thwart military interventions. In 1876, Sultan Abdul Aziz was deposed by a military coup d ‘état. Some historians have conferred that this was the first coup of modern Turkey.
The Republic of Turkey’s democracy after 1923 has likewise endured incessant coup attempts intended wholly to topple the elected and the chosen authorities of the period. Four successful coups took place, and on July 15, 2016, the most recent bid was implemented. Though, contrasting with the previous ones, the conspirators’ efforts remained futile to attain their targets. Turkish unity and democracy at the end carried the day. The coup attempt can be deemed as a paragon per se of people power. It led to the killings of 250 people, whereas 2,000 plus people were injured. On this day, from that year onward, all those who lost their lives while trouncing the putsch are remembered along with venerating the bravery of the nation.
There revolved many conspiracy theories regarding coup plotters that they were a grander coalition connecting some Kemalist officers along with other anti-Erdogan officers. Talking to CNN Turk following the failed coup, former COGS, Gen Ilker Basbug asserted that, in addition to the Gulenists, there could be a possibility of others involved not pleased with Erdogan’s ruling in the coup attempt. On July 16, as a first reaction, the government arrested around 2,839 soldiers of various ranks. The Turkish government has submitted eighty-four boxes of evidence to the United States government relating to Gulen’s nefarious activities. The leaders of the opposition parties have also called for Gulen to be returned to Turkey for trial.
Going back in 2013, Egypt had its coup d ‘état. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi headed a coalition to eliminate the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, and suspended the Egyptian constitution of 2012. The nature of the social structure of the Egyptian and Turkish peoples contributed significantly to the success of the coup in the former and the thwarting of the coup attempt in the latter. The military establishment in both countries played an active role in directing the course of events. In contrast, political parties and religious institutions played a vital role in preparation for the coup in both countries.
The opposition parties in Egypt supported the coup, while Turkey’s opposition groups stood with the democratically elected government. The media paved the way for the coup in Egypt and were an effective tool in the hand of plotters. On the other hand, the media in Turkey stood against the coup attempt from the very beginning. Lastly, the regional and international actors in both countries were influential in creating the coup. The structure of armed forces is the most significant variable in explaining the success and failure of coup attempts in any country.
Pakistan also has an enormous history of military coups Turkey has possibly shut down the doors for future dictatorships. The fiasco of this coup also granted optimism, hope, and confidence to the blossoming egalitarianism in Pakistan, conveying a message that whenever and wherever there is any coup attempt, it can be stymied by that nation. The Turkish nation has set a standard for fighting and struggling democratic systems and nations of any state to salvage their democratic structures. It has validated Abraham Lincoln’s definition of the state:
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
The writer is pursuing her degree in MS-IR at the Middle East Technical University and is working as a Research Associate at the Foreign Policy Institute, Ankara