1960 Turkish coup d'état

The 1960 Turkish coup d'état (Turkish: 27 Mayıs Darbesi) was the first coup d'état in the Republic of Turkey. The coup was staged by a group of 38[1] young Turkish military officers, acting outside the Staff Chiefs' chain of command. It was orchestrated by Alparslan Türkeş and ultimately led on May 27, 1960, by General Cemal Gürsel,[2] against the democratically elected government of the Democrat Party. Alparslan Türkeş was a member of the junta (National Unity Committee).

1960 Turkish coup d'etat
Date27 May 1960
Location
Turkey
Result

Coup successful

Belligerents
National Unity Committee 24th government of Turkey
Commanders and leaders
Gen. Cemal Gürsel
Lt. Gen. Cemal Madanoğlu
Col. Alparslan Türkeş		 Celâl Bayar
Adnan Menderes 
Hasan Polatkan 
Fatin Rüştü Zorlu 
Units involved
38 Committee members -
Casualties and losses
2 soldiers, 1 civilian 7 Democrat Party Members

Background

The incident took place at a time of both socio-political turmoil and economic hardship, as US aid from the Truman doctrine and the Marshall Plan was running out and so Prime Minister Adnan Menderes planned to visit Moscow in the hope of establishing alternative lines of credit.[3][4][5]

Coup

Colonel Alparslan Türkeş orchestrated the plot. He was a member of the junta (National Unity Committee) and had been among the first 16 officers trained by the United States in 1948 to form a stay-behind counter-guerrilla. As such, he explicitly stated his anticommunism and his faith and allegiance to NATO and CENTO in his short address to nation, but he remained vague on the reasons of the coup. On the morning of May 27, Türkeş declared the coup over radio, which ultimately announced "the end of one period in Turkish history, and usher in a new one":

The Great Turkish Nation: Starting at 3:00 am on the 27th of May, the Turkish armed forces have taken over administration throughout the entire country. This operation, thanks to the close cooperation of all our citizens and security forces, has succeeded without loss of life. Until further notice, a curfew has been imposed, exempt only to members of the armed forces. We request our citizens to facilitate the duty of our armed forces, and assist in reestablishing the nationally desired democratic regime.

— Alparslan Türkeş, Radio broadcast May, 27th 1960[6]

In a press conference on the following day, Cemal Gürsel emphasized that the "purpose and the aim of the coup is to bring the country with all speed to a fair, clean and solid democracy.... I want to transfer power and the administration of the nation to the free choice of the people"[7]

Purge

The junta forced 235 generals and more than 3,000 other commissioned officers into retirement; purged more than 500 judges and public prosecutors and 1400 university faculty members and put the chief of the General Staff, the president, the prime minister and other members of the administration under arrest.[8][9] It followed by the appointment of the commander of the army General Cemal Gürsel, as the provisional head of state, prime minister and the minister of defense.

Yassıada trials
Members of the Turkish government who were hanged after the Yassıada jurisdiction.

The minister of the interior, Namık Gedik, committed suicide while he was detained in the Turkish Military Academy. President Celal Bayar, prime minister Adnan Menderes and several other members of the administration were put on trial before a court appointed by the junta on the island Yassıada in the Sea of Marmara. The politicians were charged with high treason, misuse of public funds and abrogation of the constitution.

The tribunals ended with the execution of Adnan Menderes, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Minister of Finance Hasan Polatkan on İmralı island on 16 September 1961.

Aftermath

Constitutional referendum was held on 9 July 1961. A new constitution was drawn up to replace the one from 1924. It was approved by 61.7% of voters, with an 81.0% turnout.[10]

A month after the execution of Menderes and other members of the Turkish government, general elections were held on 15 October 1961. The administrative authority was returned to civilians, but the military continued to dominate the political scene until October 1965.[7] General İsmet İnönü held the office of Prime Minister for the third time from 1961 to 1965. Turkish Army Colonel Talat Aydemir organised two failed coups d'état in February 1962 and May 1963. In the first free elections after the coup, in 1965, Süleyman Demirel was elected and held the office until 1971, when he was removed by another coup.

See also

References
  1. Gunn, Christopher (Spring 2015). "The 1960 Coup in Turkey: A U.S. Intelligence Failure or a Successful Intervention?". Journal of Cold War Studies. 17 (2): 103. doi:10.1162/JCWS_a_00550.
  2. "Military interventions in Turkey". Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  3. Çavdar, Tevfik (1996). "Birinci Bölüm". Türkiye'nin Demokrasi Tarihi 1950-1995 (in Turkish) (2nd ed.).
  4. "Darbe olmasaydı Menderes Moskova'ya gidecekti". Zaman Gazetesi (in Turkish). 24 May 2008. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  5. "Menderes'i Nato Astırdı". Habertürk (in Turkish). 28 May 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  6. Dilipak, Abdurrahman (1991). Ihtilaller Donemi. Istanbul: Dogan Ofset. p. 70.
  7. http://www.allaboutturkey.com/darbe.htm
  8. Mümtaz'er, Türköne (27 May 2010). "27 Mayıs'ın hesabı". Zaman Gazetesi (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  9. "Cunta, en büyük tasfiyeyi yargıda ve orduda yaptı". Zaman Gazetesi (in Turkish). 31 May 2010. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  10. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p254 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
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