Military coup in Turkey, 1997
Encyclopedia
The 1997 military memorandum refers to the decisions issued by the Turkish Military leadership on a National Security Council
meeting at February 28, 1997 which initiated the February 28 process that precipated the resignation of prime minister Necmettin Erbakan
of the Welfare Party
and the end of his coalition government
. As the Erbakan government was forced out without dissolving the parliament or suspending the constitution, the event has been labelled a "postmodern coup" by Salim Dervişoğlu.
, Çevik Bir
, Teoman Koman, Çetin Doğan, Necdet Timur, and Erol Özkasnak.
On 17 January 1997, during a visit to the Turkish General Staff, Turkish president Süleyman Demirel
requested a briefing on what had been bothering the military. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı
, Chief of the General Staff, enumerated 55 items, labelled "reactionary". Demirel said half of them were based on hearsay. He encouraged Karadayı to communicate with the government, and to soften the memorandum's wording. On 31 January 1997, anti-Israel protests took place in "Al-Quds night" that was arranged by the Sincan municapility in Ankara. The building in which the "Al-Quds night" took place was plastered with posters of Hamas
and Hezbollah. As part of the process, the tanks moved on the streets of Sincan on 4 February. The movement was later described as a balance adjustment to the democracy by Çevik Bir.
At the National Security Council (MGK) meeting on 28 February 1997, the generals submitted their views on issues regarding secularism and political Islam on Turkey to the government. The MGK made several decisions during this meeting and the Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan from the Welfare Party was forced to sign the decisions. The decisions were intended to protect the secularist ideology in Turkey. Some of the decisions that Erbakan was forced to sign are:
, Demirel appointed ANAP leader Mesut Yılmaz
to form the new government. He formed a new coalition government with Bülent Ecevit
(DSP leader) and Hüsamettin Cindoruk
(the founder and the leader of DTP, a party founded after February 28 Process by former DYP members) on 30 June 1997. The Welfare Party was closed by the Constitutional Court in 1998. Necmettin Erbakan was banned from politics for 5 years and former MP members and mayors of RP joined the Virtue Party
. Istanbul mayor, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
from Virtue Party was given a prison sentence after he had read a nationalist and Islamist poet and he was banned from politics forever. In the 1999 general elections, The Virtue Party won many seats in the parliament but it was not as successful as the RP in the 1995 general elections. One of the MP members of the party was Merve Kavakçı
who wore an Islamic headscarf. The Virtue Party was also closed by the Constitutional Court in 2001 because of Merve Kavakçı's entrance to the parliament. Although former Istanbul mayor Erdoğan was banned from politics, he managed to form the Justice and Development Party
, a reformist party that declared not to be a political party with a religious axis. The traditional Islamists formed the Felicity Party.
, who was implicated in the Susurluk scandal
.
It is alleged that Bülent Orakoğlu of the police intelligence, under Hanefi Avcı, learned about the coup plans.
Çevik Bir
, one of the generals who planned the process said that “In Turkey we have a marriage of Islam and democracy. (…) The child of this marriage is secularism. Now this child gets sick from time to time. The Turkish Armed Forces is the doctor which saves the child. Depending on how sick the kid is, we administer the necessary medicine to make sure the child recuperates”.
Necmettin Erbakan said that the process had been planned by the Zionists.
National Security Council
A National Security Council is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security...
meeting at February 28, 1997 which initiated the February 28 process that precipated the resignation of prime minister Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan was a Turkish engineer, academic, politician , who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 until 1997. He was Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister...
of the Welfare Party
Welfare Party
The Welfare Party was an Islamist political party in Turkey. It was founded by Ali Türkmen, Ahmet Tekdal and Necmettin Erbakan in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, Milli Nizam Partisi and Milli Selamet Partisi , which were banned from politics...
and the end of his coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
. As the Erbakan government was forced out without dissolving the parliament or suspending the constitution, the event has been labelled a "postmodern coup" by Salim Dervişoğlu.
Events
The operation was planned by generals İsmail Hakkı Karadayıİsmail Hakkı Karadayı
İsmail Hakkı Karadayı is a retired Turkish general, who became the 20th Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces on 30 August 1993. He served between 1994 and 1998 as the 22nd Chief of the Turkish General Staff for a four-year term and was succeeded by General Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu.-References:...
, Çevik Bir
Cevik Bir
Çevik Bir was a member of the Turkish General Staff in the 1990s. He took a major part in several important international missions in the Middle East and North Africa...
, Teoman Koman, Çetin Doğan, Necdet Timur, and Erol Özkasnak.
On 17 January 1997, during a visit to the Turkish General Staff, Turkish president Süleyman Demirel
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...
requested a briefing on what had been bothering the military. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı
İsmail Hakkı Karadayı
İsmail Hakkı Karadayı is a retired Turkish general, who became the 20th Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces on 30 August 1993. He served between 1994 and 1998 as the 22nd Chief of the Turkish General Staff for a four-year term and was succeeded by General Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu.-References:...
, Chief of the General Staff, enumerated 55 items, labelled "reactionary". Demirel said half of them were based on hearsay. He encouraged Karadayı to communicate with the government, and to soften the memorandum's wording. On 31 January 1997, anti-Israel protests took place in "Al-Quds night" that was arranged by the Sincan municapility in Ankara. The building in which the "Al-Quds night" took place was plastered with posters of Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and Hezbollah. As part of the process, the tanks moved on the streets of Sincan on 4 February. The movement was later described as a balance adjustment to the democracy by Çevik Bir.
At the National Security Council (MGK) meeting on 28 February 1997, the generals submitted their views on issues regarding secularism and political Islam on Turkey to the government. The MGK made several decisions during this meeting and the Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan from the Welfare Party was forced to sign the decisions. The decisions were intended to protect the secularist ideology in Turkey. Some of the decisions that Erbakan was forced to sign are:
- forcing people to donate of skins of sacrificed animals to the Turkish Aviation Board (THK)
- strict headscarf ban in universities
- 8 year primary School education
- closing illegal Quran schools down
- abolishment of tarikats
- control of media groups which object to the decisions of Yüksek Askerî Şûra (Supreme Military Council) to fire religious soldiers on claims of "irtica" ("reaction"/"reactionaryism")
Aftermath
After the process following military memorandum, Erbakan was forced to resign. Although DYP, RP and BBP declared that they should form the new government with the Prime ministership of Tansu ÇillerTansu Çiller
Tansu Penbe Çiller is a Turkish economist and politician. She was Turkey's first and only female Prime Minister.- Early career :She is the daughter of a Turkish governor of Bilecik province during the 1950s. She graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American...
, Demirel appointed ANAP leader Mesut Yılmaz
Mesut Yilmaz
Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz is the former leader of the Motherland Party and was the Turkish prime minister in the 1990s.Mesut Yılmaz was a rising star in the Motherland Party of Turgut Özal, representing the Black Sea province of Rize in the parliament and serving as tourism minister in Ozal's cabinet...
to form the new government. He formed a new coalition government with Bülent Ecevit
Bülent Ecevit
Mustafa Bülent Ecevit was a Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist, who was the leader of Republican People's Party , later of the Democratic Left Party and four-time Prime Minister of Turkey.- Personal life :...
(DSP leader) and Hüsamettin Cindoruk
Hüsamettin Cindoruk
Hüsamettin Cindoruk is a Turkish politician and the 17th Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey between 1991-1995. He has also been the leader of two political parties, notably of the True Path Party.-Biography:...
(the founder and the leader of DTP, a party founded after February 28 Process by former DYP members) on 30 June 1997. The Welfare Party was closed by the Constitutional Court in 1998. Necmettin Erbakan was banned from politics for 5 years and former MP members and mayors of RP joined the Virtue Party
Virtue Party
Virtue Party was an Islamist political party established in December 1998 in Turkey. It was found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and then banned in June 2001, for violating the secularist articles of the Constitution...
. Istanbul mayor, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
from Virtue Party was given a prison sentence after he had read a nationalist and Islamist poet and he was banned from politics forever. In the 1999 general elections, The Virtue Party won many seats in the parliament but it was not as successful as the RP in the 1995 general elections. One of the MP members of the party was Merve Kavakçı
Merve Kavakci
Merve Safa Kavakçı was a Turkish politician, who was elected as a Virtue Party deputy for Istanbul on April 18, 1999. On May 2, she was prevented from making her parliamentary oath because of her hijab, which is banned for civil servants in secular Turkey...
who wore an Islamic headscarf. The Virtue Party was also closed by the Constitutional Court in 2001 because of Merve Kavakçı's entrance to the parliament. Although former Istanbul mayor Erdoğan was banned from politics, he managed to form the Justice and Development Party
Justice and Development Party (Turkey)
The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament...
, a reformist party that declared not to be a political party with a religious axis. The traditional Islamists formed the Felicity Party.
Opinions on the Memorandum
While the move was ostensibly directed against Erbakan's Islamic party, some have speculated that the coup was actually directed against Erbakan's coalition partner, Tansu ÇillerTansu Çiller
Tansu Penbe Çiller is a Turkish economist and politician. She was Turkey's first and only female Prime Minister.- Early career :She is the daughter of a Turkish governor of Bilecik province during the 1950s. She graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American...
, who was implicated in the Susurluk scandal
Susurluk scandal
The Susurluk scandal was a scandal involving the close relationship between the Turkish government, the armed forces, and organized crime. It took place during the peak of the Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict, in the mid-1990s...
.
It is alleged that Bülent Orakoğlu of the police intelligence, under Hanefi Avcı, learned about the coup plans.
Çevik Bir
Cevik Bir
Çevik Bir was a member of the Turkish General Staff in the 1990s. He took a major part in several important international missions in the Middle East and North Africa...
, one of the generals who planned the process said that “In Turkey we have a marriage of Islam and democracy. (…) The child of this marriage is secularism. Now this child gets sick from time to time. The Turkish Armed Forces is the doctor which saves the child. Depending on how sick the kid is, we administer the necessary medicine to make sure the child recuperates”.
Necmettin Erbakan said that the process had been planned by the Zionists.
See also
- Military coup in Turkey, 1960Military coup in Turkey, 1960The military coup in Turkey, 1960 was a coup d'état staged by a group of Turkish army officers, against the democratically elected government of the Democrat Party on 27 May 1960....
- Military coup in Turkey, 1971
- Military coup in Turkey, 1980Military coup in Turkey, 1980The 12 September 1980 Turkish coup d'état, headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic after the 1960 coup and the 1971 "Coup by Memorandum"....