Introduction
Since its founding, the Turkish Republic has endured its share of military intervention in politics, and seen four coups – two of them forced a change of government without taking over. On 15 July 2016, a coup d’état was again haphazardly attempted in Turkey against the powerful government, but ultimately failed. The attempt was unsystematically performed by a disillusioned faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that organized under a council called the Peace at Home Council. The council chaotically attempted to seize control of several key places in Ankara, Istanbul and elsewhere, but dismally failed to do so after potent and well-equipped forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inflicted a crushing defeat on the conspirators. The ominous revival of the military role and the defeat of democracy have, therefore, brought about both the authoritarian government and the intransigent opposition on the same page to vehemently oppose and stymie the coup. So far, the underhand motives behind the attempted martial law are still largely ambiguous and obscure. “The ruling party has allegedly blamed the self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen for staging the failed coup through his followers in the army”i. Some experts of Turkish politics opine that an alleged erosion of secularism, an elimination of democratic rule, a disregard for human rights and Turkey’s loss of credibility in the international arena as underlying reasons for the failed coup. Unavoidably, the abortive coup is highly likely to instigate a string of fateful consequences domestically and internationally for Turkey. The article will briefly outline and analyse the course of the attempted coup, resultant stringent measures of the government and its expected impacts on the chaotic internal politics of Turkey and its fast-fluctuating relations with the world, especially with its ally United States and the European Union (EU).
Attempted Takeover
According to the Economist, the attempted takeover began in the evening 15 July 2016. Military vehicles took over two bridges over the Bosporus; helicopters clattered and military jets roared and buzzed overhead of Ankara.ii A Turkish F-16 jet controlled by the attempted coup-makers, bombed near the presidential palace in the capital city of Ankara killing 5 people. A military helicopter carrying ‘coup plotters’ was reportedly shot down over Ankara by government forces. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul’s airport for a couple of hours, before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags.
At around 21:00, the coupists had invited Salih Zeki Çolak, the commander of the Turkish Land Forces to the military headquarters. When he arrived, he was immediately apprehended.”iii Abidin Ünal, head of the Turkish Air Force, who had been attending a wedding in Istanbul, was abducted from there by soldiers who descended from a helicopter. “The coupists then tried to force Hulusi Akar, the Turkish Chief of the General Staff, to sign the coup declaration, almost strangling him using a belt in the process. He refused and was then taken to the Akıncı Air Base along with other commanders at the headquarters.”iv The military also entered the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) offices in Istanbul and asked people to leave.v Soon came the news, familiar to an older generation of Turks but clean forgotten by the current one: soldiers had staged a coup. They declared in a statement: “To restore the constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and public order, the Turkish armed forces have taken complete control of the country.vi The BBC reported that some tanks had also appeared in Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport through the coup.vii As par some reports, most internet users within Turkey were systematically blocked from accessing Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube possibly calculated to hinder them from sharing information and garnering support against the designs of the plotters of the unsuccessful coup.
The Los Angeles Times reported that at around 12:00 a.m., some helicopters bombed the police Special Forces headquarters and police air force headquarters in Gölbaşı, just outside of Ankara. The attacks left 42 dead and 43 injured. Türksat headquarters in Gölbaşı was also attacked, killing two security personnel. “At around 11:50 p.m., soldiers occupied Taksim Square in central Istanbul.”viii At 12:02a.m., it was reported by Reuters that Turkish soldiers were inside the buildings of the Turkish state broadcaster, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), in Ankara. “During the coup attempt, soldiers forced anchor Tijen Karaş to read out a statement saying that “the democratic and secular rule of law has been eroded by current government” and that Turkey was now led by Peace at Home Council that would “ensure safety of the population.”ix The statement read in part, “Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and general security that was damaged. […] All international agreements are still valid. We hope that all of our good relationships with all countries will continue.x According to the BBC, the plotters said they had done so to preserve democratic order, and that the rule of law must remain a priority. The statement also ordered temporary martial rule, and claimed a new constitution would be prepared as soon as possible.
Government’s response to the coup
The Guardian quoted the spokesperson of the Turkish presidential office as saying that President Erdoğan was on holiday outside Turkey when the bungled attempt was being made, and he condemned the coup attempt as an attack on democracy. In his interview to the CNN Turk, President Erdogan called upon his supporters to take to the streets in defiance of the military-imposed curfew, saying “there is no power higher than the power of the people. Let them do what they will at public squares and airports.”xi Mr. Erdogan condemned what he called an uprising by “a small group within our armed forces”, and urged the people to defy the curfew by turning out into the streets.xii Supporters answered their leader’s call, streaming onto public squares in several cities and at Istanbul’s main airport. At mosques across the city, muezzins called for people to protest against the coup. In Istanbul, a group of Erdogan supporters made their way towards the city’s main shopping street, chanting “Allah is Great”.
According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces flew over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, which greatly weakened the position of the latter. There were also reports of pro-government jets flying over Ankara to “neutralize” helicopters used by those behind the coup. “Reuters reported that in early hours of 16 July, the coup appeared to have “crumbled” as crowds defied pro-coup military orders and gathered in major squares of Istanbul and Ankara to oppose the coup.”xiii Reuters also reported pro-coup soldiers surrendering to the police in Taksim Square, Istanbul.xiv In the very same day, Atatürk airport was completely recaptured by the government whilst the police had surrounded the coupists inside the Turkish army headquarters, calling for them to surrender. In the early hours of the morning of 16 July, soldiers blocking the Bosphorus Bridge surrendered to the police. Meanwhile, in the headquarters of the Turkish Army, 700 unarmed soldiers surrendered as the police conducted an operation in the building while 150 armed soldiers were kept inside by the police. The coupists in the TRT building in Istanbul surrendered in the early morning as well. According to Daily Sabah, Chief of Staff Akar, held hostage at the Akıncı Air Base in Ankara, was also rescued by pro-government forces.
Who were behind the attempted coup?
Fethullah Gülen has been supposedly blamed for organizing the failed coup in Turkey, especially by his former political friend, incumbent President Erdogan. Gulen is the founder of the Gülen movement , who currently lives in self-imposed exile in the US, residing in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. Gülen was an ally of Turkish President Erdoğan before 2013. The alliance was destroyed after the 2013 corruption investigations in Turkey. “Erdogan accused Gülen of being behind the corruption investigations on members of the AKP including the son of the president. He is currently on Turkey’s most-wanted-terrorist list and is accused of leading what the current Turkish officials call the Gulenist Terror Organisation (FETÖ).”xv
President Erdoğan asked the US to extradite Gülen: “I call on you again, after there was a coup attempt. Extradite this man in Pennsylvania to Turkey! If we are strategic partners or model partners, do what is necessary.”xvi Prime Minister Yildirim has threatened war against any country that would support Gülen. While talking to Pakistani media, Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Sadik Babur Girgin said that “the FETÖ, which infiltrated into the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) over decades and organised the criminal act of coup attempt, is a terrorist outfit in line with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and Daesh.” “Turkey has solid proofs that the coup attempt was an act of FETÖ, the leader of which, Fethullah Gülen, has been living in the US for almost 20 years. Some confessions by the arrested plotters clearly reveal that the conspiracy was planned and carried out by FETÖ,” the envoy confirmed.
No doubt, the Gulenist movement has a powerful presence in Turkish society i.e., in the media, the armed forces, police, judiciary and other government institutions. As seen from some past events, these staunch adherents and followers of Gulen have antipathy of the policies of President Erdogan, thus prone to any deliberate move against the incumbent government of Turkey. According to The Wall Street Journal, in a video message released in 2000, Gulen called for his disciples to “move into the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing, until you reach all power centers.”xvii
According to a report released by The Economist, since the 1960s, whenever Turkey’s meddlesome generals have seized power, Turks have accused America of being responsible. In this regard, Turkey’s labour minister, Suleyman Soylu, declared that America was behind the attempt to overthrow the country’s Islamist president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, the US has thus far denied any support to the botched coup attempt of July 15th plotted by a cabal of mid-ranking generals and junior officers. In his uncharacteristically stiff reaction to his Turkish opposite number, America’s Secretary of State John Kerry said, on July 16th, that “insinuations that America had played any role in the coup were utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations”. Speaking to an American news channel the following day, Kerry warned President Erdogan against using the coup as an excuse to clamp down on his opponents. A wide-ranging purge, Kerry said, “would be a great challenge to his relationship to Europe, to NATO and to all of us”.
Arguably, the aforementioned hands behind the failed coup are mere allegations and unavoidable outbursts of the Turkish leaders which may turn out to be false and fabricated. If the Turkish government earnestly wishes to genuinely unearth the real plotters and organizers of the July coup, it should make an independent committee composed of members of both the government and the opposition to investigate into the unfortunate attempt. The government should avoid targeting any groups and heaping mere blames on any countries before the findings of the proposed committee are prepared. Or else, such stringent measures against the army or any institution will instigate more complications and stumbling blocks to President Erdogan.
Possible fallout of the attempted coup
Apart from slew of other consequences, the followings are the major fallout of the failed coup of July 15 in Turkey:
Enforcement of state of emergency
On 20 July 2016, President Erdogan announced a three-month state of emergency in response to the attempted coupxviii, invoking Article 120 of the Constitution of Turkey (Declaration of state of emergency because of widespread acts of violence and serious deterioration of public order).xix Under the state of emergency, under Article 121, “the Council of Ministers, meeting under the chairpersonship of the President of the Republic, may issue decrees having the force of law on matters necessitated by the state of emergency…” with decrees subject to subsequent parliamentary approval.xx The state of emergency was endorsed by the parliament on 21 July by 346 votes to 115. “As part of the state of emergency, Deputy Prime Minister Kurtulmus announced that Turkey was temporarily suspending part of the European Convention on Human Rights following the attempted coup,xxi invoking Article 15 of the Convention (war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation).xxii
Arrests and purges
After the attempted coup, President Erdoğan warned his opponents that they would pay a heavy price for that. It followed an extensive purge of the Turkish civil services. As soon as it became clear that the coup had miserably failed, the crackdown began – first with the security forces, then spreading to Turkey’s entire civilian infrastructure. At present, some 9,000 people are in custody and many more are out of a job. Although accurate details are difficult to come by, this is the current list:
• 7,500 soldiers have been detained, including 118 generals and admirals;
• 8,000 police have been removed from their posts and 1,000 arrested;
• 3,000 members of the judiciary, including 1,481 judges, have been suspended;
• 15,200 education ministry officials have lost their jobs;
• 21,000 private school teachers have had their licences revoked;
• 1,577 university deans (faculty heads) have been asked to resign;
• 1,500 finance ministry staff have been removed;
• 492 clerics, preachers and religious teachers have been fired;
• 393 social policy ministry staff have been dismissed;
• 257 prime minister’s office staff have been removed;
• 100 intelligence officials have been suspended. http:xxiii
The list may be incomplete because the situation is constantly changing. But it is clear that the purge has affected well over 58,000 people. The New York Times along with some other Western media such as The Economist, described the purges as a “counter-coup”.
Crackdown against Gulenist movement
Since President Erdogan blamed Gulen for the attempted coup, it is likely that a massive and severe crackdown against the Gulenist movement would be conducted in order to hinder and inhibit any such move in the foreseeable future against Turkish democracy. In a clean-up operation on Gulen’s suspected followers, more than 60,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have already been suspended, detained or placed under investigation. The Turkish government has formally submitted its request to the US to extradite Fethullah Gulen. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told the Turkish parliament: “We have sent four dossiers to the US for the extradition of the terrorist chief. We will present them with more evidence than they want”. US Secretary of State Kerry said over the weekend that the US would consider extradition, but only if presented with compelling evidence.
Enforcement of death penalty
From the speeches of the Turkish president, it is crystal clear that the government is adamant about enforcing death penalty to bring the plotters of the failed coup to book. President Erdogan has repeatedly and vociferously said that he is ready to reinstate the death penalty if the Turkish people demand it and parliament approves the necessary legislation. When Erdogan recently spoke to thousands of supporters outside his Istanbul residence, the latter stridently demanded to restore capital punishment following the failed coup. “Today, is there no capital punishment in America? In Russia? In China? In countries around the world? Only in EU countries, there is no capital punishment,” Erdogan said. The president added that “Turkey is a democratic state run by the rule of law, and you cannot put aside the people’s demands”.
Turkish authorities have not executed anyone since 1984, but legally abolished capital punishment only in 2004 as a pre-condition to join the EUxxiv. EU officials have warned that long-stalled talks on Turkey’s bid to join the EU would end if Ankara restores the death penalty. “On 18 July 2016, Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of Foreign Affairs of the European Union, announced that no country would be admitted into the EU “if it introduces the death penalty.”xxv Moreover, German press secretary, Steffen Seibert, stated that reinstituting the death penalty would end Turkey’s accession talks with the EU.xxvi Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe, and ratified the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as part of its terms of membership. The ECHR is an international treaty that includes the abolition of the death penalty among its terms. As such, Turkey is legally bound not to reintroduce the death penalty.xxvii
Impacts on Turkish-American relations
In the uproar following the attempted military coup in Turkey, relations between Washington and Ankara, already badly strained, appear to be headed for new difficulty. David Ignatius wrote in The Washington Post that “the immediate test will be Turkish President Erdogan’s demand that the US will extradite Gulen. Obama administration officials say they will consider any such request, under an existing extradition treaty with Turkey. But the issue will be delicate, given the past US and European criticism of Erdogan’s human rights record.” Turkish indignation over Gulen’s residence in the US was voiced by Egemen Bagis, a Turkish politician and long-time adviser for Erdogan in these words: “America can no longer drag its feet in the sand. Gulen is a traitor, who through his network of henchmen was able to instruct and encourage a military coup.” Bagis warned that if the US ignores the request for Gulen’s extradition, it will “run the risk of losing an ally.” Suleyman Soylu, Turkey’s labour minister even claimed that “the US is behind the coup attempt.”
According to Ignatius, the tensions in the US-Turkey relationship go much deeper than the issue of Gulen’s alleged role in the coup and the demand for his extradition. The two countries are sharply divided over strategy for combating the Islamic State in Syria. Erdogan’s government argues that the US has allied with a Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG that has links with the underground Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which the Turks call a terrorist organization. Bulent Aliriza, a leading Turkish analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says that “we have a serious crisis in US-Turkish relations”. Aliriza notes that because of the bitter divide over Syria policy, the relationship “was troubled even before the coup.”
The post-coup deterioration in relations was signalled when Turkey halted US bombing operations against the Islamic State from Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey. Ankara’s agreement a year ago to allow a squadron of A-10 “Warthog” ground-attack planes to fly from Incirlik had demonstrated renewed cooperation between the two countries’ militaries after a decade of tense relationsxxviii— and according to US and Turkish analysts, had bolstered the Turkish military after a decade of increasing political control.
Any independent role for the military was shattered by Friday’s botched coup. Some Turkish analysts have pointedly noted that some elements of the Turkish Air Force, allegedly including jets operating from Incirlik, were part of the plot.xxix
Impacts on Turkish-EU relations
The consequences of the failed coup are also likely to adversely affect Turkey’s relationship with Europe. In March, Turkey and the EU agreed on an ambitious package of measures designed to stem the flow of refugees to Europe. But, while the arrangement has been a clear success, it remains politically vulnerable. For Turkey, the biggest prize was the EU’s commitment to lifting visa restrictions on Turkish citizens travelling to the Schengen Area, a move scheduled for June. Instead, visa liberalization was postponed until October, owing to Turkey’s refusal to comply with a few remaining conditions.
At the core of the diplomatic impasse is the EU’s demand that Turkey amend its anti-terror legislation to ensure that it reflects more closely the norms established by the European Court of Human Rights. The aim is to limit the legislation’s implementation to genuine terror cases and prevent its use as a tool to restrain freedom of expression. But the post-putsch environment will reduce the government’s willingness to amend Turkey’s anti-terror framework.
As a result, a diplomatic crisis by October is likely, with Turkey claiming that the EU has failed to honor its commitments. The entire refugee package, under which Turkey continues to host more than 2.8 million Syrian refugees, could then come under threat, with consequences for the flow of asylum-seekers.
Policy options for President Erdogan
It is likely that imprudent measures often follow after a failed military coup. After taking Turkish internal politics and its relations with the west, such stringent measures will bring about more serious issues for the incumbent government in the near future. The following measures will prove effective for President Erdogan to normalize the post-coup situation:
Firstly, he should stop open-ended purges and make an independent commission tasked with looking into the basic causes of the coup attempt and the people behind it.
Secondly, it does not bode well to target the movement of Gulen and round up its supporters. Since cleric Gulen is supported by practically 10 per cent of the Turks and he has a large number of followers in the government and media, the government’s crackdown on these adherents will create a disruptive unrest in the country. President Erdogan should wait for the findings of the proposed commission.
Thirdly, President Erdogan should not allow members of the AKP to blame the US for the attempted coup. Turkish-American relations are important to work jointly so as to stamp out the rampaging Daesh in Syria. Moreover, Turkey also needs America to balance the strategic moves of Russia in the region.
Lastly, since Turkey requires the membership of the EU to foster its economic boom, it should not let the unfolding situation restrain the Turkish-EU relations. To attain it, it is advisable not to enforce death penalty in a hurried manner.
Conclusion
The attempted coup in Turkey has exposed the underhand threats to the Turkish democracy. The incumbent government under authoritarian President Erdogan has succeeded to turn the tide of the failed coup, thereby safeguarding the democratic institutions of the country. But, the harsh and punitive measures adopted by the government do not bode well, which could well create further complications and impediments to President Erdogan to manage the internal politics as well as Turkey’s relations with the US and the EU. The president should exercise prudence and sagacity by adopting a more cautious approach to tackling the unfolding situation.
End Notes
i In his opinion published by Aljazeera, Kani Torun, an AK party member of the parliament and Deputy Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee, has accused some Gulenist officers of organising the coup to oust the AKP government.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/07/turkey-coup-attempt-happened-night-160721132018415.html
iii http://t24.com.tr/haber/aa-kara-kuvvetleri-komutanina-hulusi-akarin-emir-subayi-tuzak-kurdu,350499
v https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/754060027300904962
vi deo/turkiye/genelkurmay-baskani-orgeneral-hulusi-akar-yasadiklarini-ilk-kez-anlatti
vii http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36809083
viii http://www.diken.com.tr/gozaltindaki-asker-sayisi-6-bin-746-1258i-tutuklu/
x https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jul/15/turkey-coup-attempt-military-gunfire-ankara
xiii http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-primeminister-idUSKCN0ZV2HK
xiv Ibid
xv http://aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-issues-list-of-most-wanted-terrorists/457286
xvi http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/16/middleeast/fethullah-gulen-profile/
xviii http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36852080
xx https://global.tbmm.gov.tr/docs/constitution_en.pdf
xxiii http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36835340
xxiv https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Turkish_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt
xxv https://www.afp.com/en/news/205/west-voices-alarm-turkey-presses-post-coup-purge
xxvi Ibid
xxvii http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-executions-convention-idUSKCN0ZY10F?il=0
