Military’s history of takeovers
Turkey is no stranger to coups, with military taking action against the government several times over the past 50 years.
The first time was in 1960, when a group of young officers rose up against prime minister Adnan Menderes and president Celal Bayar after they backtracked on reforms which had tried to modernise Turkey in the 20s and 30s.
The government were toppled and Menderes executed.
In 1971 economic difficulties sparked the army to rise up once again in what was dubbed the “coup by memorandum”.
Memduh Tagmac, the chief of the general staff, gave a note to prime minister Suleyman Demirel demanding a “strong and credible government”. He quit the same day.
As divisions between left and right grew throughout the 70s, talk of another coup grew and in 1980 the military declared martial law.
In 1995, the Islamic Welfare Party – of which Tayyip Erdogan was a member – gained power in a coalition. But a 1997 coup saw the party disbanded the following year.
The country saw rumblings of another coup in 2012 when more than 300 officers were accused of planning the 2003 “sledgehammer” conspiracy to remove Erdogan when he was prime minister.
Controversial president Tayyip Erdogan became active in Islamist parties throughout the 70s and 80s.
In 1994 he become Mayor of Istanbul until a coup saw him ousted and the Islamist Welfare Party of which he was a member disbanded in 1998.
The future president was locked up for four months the same year for inciting religious hatred. In 2001 he founded the Islamist based AKP with Abdullah Gul. Party popularity grew and they won the election in 2003.
Victory secured Erdogan the role as prime minister. Turkey’s first direct election for head of state saw him appointed president in 2014.