Üsküdar University History Club hosted a talk moderated by Asena Kazancı, titled 'History of Coups in Turkey', featuring Dr. Furkan Kaya, a Lecturer at Yeditepe University, as the guest speaker.
"There is an Atatürk republic that trusts the will of the people"
Kaya stated, "We need to evaluate the history of coups as the most important turning points in Turkish political history; because, generally speaking, when we consider Turkish political life starting from the 1960 coup, it has been subjected to coup attempts every 10 years, and in a way, Turkey's politics has been attempted to be reshaped. When these coups are carried out, we generally also observe an external influence. As you know, every military junta that carries out a coup claims to do so under the name of protecting the Atatürk Republic and Atatürk's secularism. When Mustafa Kemal Atatürk began the National Struggle period, he took off his uniform, put on civilian clothes, and thus conveyed the message that he wanted to initiate this struggle with the national will. In that period, especially after 1923 and even the 1930s, while the drums of the Second World War were beating in Europe, and military-uniformed dictators like Mussolini, Franco, and Hitler were in power, Atatürk waged this struggle by taking off his uniform and did not wear that uniform during the Republican era. This means there is an Atatürk republic that trusts the will of the people."
"A coup is the interruption of state administration through intervention"
Referring to the concept of a coup, Kaya stated: "When we speak of a coup, that is, an intervention in governance, it essentially means the suspension of that government, that state administration, through intervention. When we refer to a revolution, such as the French Revolution or other historical revolutions globally, it signifies the establishment of a new order in place of the existing one. What we call a 'junta movement' is a term familiar to all of us; it is the name given to a military group that organizes within the army, aims to establish a new order, and plans to intervene in the political will."
"The message was given that those who come by ballot can only leave by ballot"
Referring to the July 15 coup attempt, [Kaya stated]: "This coup attempt was initiated by a group of FETÖ-affiliated putschists within the Turkish Armed Forces at the General Staff headquarters on July 15, 2016. It was brought under control within approximately 22 hours. A coup declaration was forcibly read on TRT, and then President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan connected to CNN Türk, inviting the public to airports and streets against the putschists. This critical move, the outpouring of the national will of the people onto the streets, actually became one of the single major obstacles to the success of this coup. On May 27, the public could not take to the streets; it was even questioned how the public could resist a group armed with weapons. On July 15, however, the public protected its national will against tanks, weapons, rifles, and bullets. The people defended their ballot box and their vote. The message was conveyed that those who come to power through the ballot box can only be removed through the ballot box."