May 27 is an important turning point in Turkish political history. Exactly 65 years ago today, a group of low-ranking young officers on behalf of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) staged a military coup and took over the country's government. Since there has been no political and legal reckoning with the coup plotters, organizing military coups against democratic governments has become a bad tradition in Türkiye. However, through skillful social manipulation, the coup of May 27 and the subsequent politicization of the law have been portrayed as progressive developments in Türkiye for many years.
In the last 60 years, there have been eight coups and coup attempts in Türkiye. The beginning of this was the military coup of May 27, 1960.
On May 27, 1960, a military operation was launched in Ankara and Istanbul by around 60 officers and around 150 officers who supported them. As a result, the government that had been elected by free elections in Republican Türkiye was removed from office by force for the first time. At that time, the ruling Democratic Party (DP) had 421 deputies in the Turkish Parliament and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) had 172 deputies.
After the coup, the National Unity Committee (MBK), composed of 38 officers and headed by Gen. Cemal Gürsel, commander of the land forces, ruled the country between May 30, 1960, and Jan. 6, 1961. On June 12, 1960, the MBK adopted a provisional constitution and the members of the MGK were announced. On Nov. 13, 14 members of the far-right wing of the MBK, including Col. Alparslan Türkeş, were purged and assigned abroad.
On Aug. 3, 1960, the MBK dismissed 235 generals and 4,171 officers of lower ranks who they thought did not support the coup. Thus, 235 of the total 260 generals in the TSK were forced to retire. Some researchers state that the purges from the army amounted to 7,000 people.
To grasp the nature of the coup, it is meaningful to recall the words of Gürsel to CHP Chair Ismet Inönü on May 28, 1960: "Your orders are prophetic for us." As a matter of fact, the following words of Salim Başol, head of the Yassıada Supreme Court of Justice (which was established to try DP arrestees), reveal just how biased the Yassıada Trials truly were: "The authority who put you here wants it this way."
The purges were not limited to the military. Some 146 academics (28 distinguished professors, 57 professors, 41 associate professors) were suspended from universities. The DP was dissolved and its members were banned from politics. Of the arrested 2,947 DP members, 592 were sent to the Supreme Court of Justice in Yassıada. For the first time, 592 defendants, including male and female lawmakers, ministers, the prime minister and the president of the country's legitimate ruling party, authorized by popular vote within the parliamentary system, were put on trial. Essentially, the entire 10-year government period from 1950 to 1960 was subjected to a political trial.
On Oct. 14, 1960, the Supreme Court of Justice commenced the Yassıada Trials, which were open to the public and spanned 11 months, comprising a total of 19 separate trials. In the first of these trials, a president was tried for the first time in Türkiye. Out of 592 defendants, 228 were tried on charges carrying the death penalty. The trials concluded on Sept. 15, 1961, with 123 individuals acquitted; 31 defendants received life imprisonment, while 15 were sentenced to death. A total of 402 people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to four years. Four of the death sentences, issued unanimously, were approved by the MBK.
Since he was over 65 years old, President Celal Bayar's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, while Finance Minister Hasan Polatkan and Foreign Minister Fatin Rüştü Zorlu were executed on Sept. 16, 1961, and Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was executed on Sept. 17, 1961, all on political grounds.
The May 27, 1960 military coup not only overthrew a government in Türkiye, but also reshaped and rebuilt the Turkish republic with a new constitutional order. On July 9, 1961, a referendum was held on the new constitution, and the 1961 Constitution was adopted with 61.5% of the votes in favor. The low approval rate was seen as an indication that the people did not support the coup.
While the 1924 Constitution was based on the supremacy of the Turkish Parliament, the 1961 Constitution was criticized for limiting the power of the governments based on the parliamentary majority and the power of the Parliament, which exercised sovereignty on behalf of the nation, with the powers granted to institutions such as the National Security Council, the Constitutional Court and universities. The 1961 Constitution turned the Parliament into just another constitutional institution and removed the power of the government. From those years onwards, the famous saying “you can come to power, but you cannot be capable” was accepted as a reality in Turkish politics.
After the May 27 coup, new constitutional institutions were introduced, such as the National Security Council and its structure, which provided the constitutional means for the military to shape politics, that is, for military tutelage. Instead of punishing the putschist officers, the leader of the coup was appointed president of the republic and the putschist officers were granted lifelong immunity as natural members of the newly established Senate. These coup plotters formed the National Unity Committee group in the Senate and constantly harassed and threatened the civilian administration.
After the adoption of the 1961 Constitution, while the coup plotters gave the impression that they ensured the normalization of the administration by allowing elections, this was not the case at all. The Oct. 15, 1961, elections did not yield the parliamentary arithmetic the coup plotters desired, because the Justice Party (AP), the New Turkey Party (YTP) and the Republican Villagers Nation Party (CKMP), the successors of the DP, received 60% of the votes.
Thereupon, on Oct. 21, 1961, a large meeting was held at the Turkish War Academies with the participation of 10 generals, admirals and 28 colonels. It was concluded that the election results necessitated a new intervention. Gen. Cevdet Sunay, the chief of general staff, learned of the decision and took action to prevent a new military intervention. As a result of the negotiations, the election results were accepted by the putschist officers with the guarantee that Gürsel would be the president and Inönü, head of the Republican People's Party (CHP), would be the prime minister.
Every coup has also caused great damage to the Turkish army because the most important characteristics of the military, discipline and the hierarchy of command and control, have been breached with each coup. The May 27 coup not only disrupted the TSK but also perpetuated putschism and juntaism. Even after the transfer of power to civilians in the 1960s, juntas were active and known within the TSK. These juntas even found the power to make statements against the governments from time to time. Col. Talat Aydemir, commander of the Military Academy, attempted two coups on Feb. 22, 1962, and May 21, 1963, which did not come to fruition, which led the civilian government to be on high alert at all times.
At this point, two key observations should be emphasized. First, the efforts of certain prominent academics in Türkiye to legitimize the coups, both before and after they occurred, must be noted. The framing of May 27 as a revolution rather than a coup, and the portrayal of the Yassıada Trials as a revolutionary court of the Supreme Court of Justice instead of a political showdown, were made possible through the cooperation and even leadership of these so-called “professors.” This anti-democratic stance not only encouraged the coup plotters but also paved the way for future coups in Türkiye.
The law on measures to protect the "achievements" of the "May 27 revolution," prepared by the government to ensure the May 27 coup was perceived positively by society, seems to have been forgotten today. According to Law No. 38, published in the Official Gazette on March 7, 1962, it was forbidden to criticize the May 27 coup or praise the DP period and the party members. This prohibition was also ignored by some circles that claimed to be “libertarian and progressive” but were, in fact, connected and affiliated with the centers of tutelage. Faced with the weakness and disorganization of civil society, these influential groups paved the way for new coups in Türkiye and endorsed the idea of seizing power through non-democratic means by saying, “yes, if possible.”
It was only 30 years after the coup that the reputations of Menderes, Zorlu and Polatkan, who had been elected by the nation but martyred by the coup plotters, were restored. With the decision made by the Turkish Parliament, the bodies of the deceased statesmen were transferred to the Memorial Tomb in Topkapı, Istanbul, in 1990 with a state ceremony attended by tens of thousands of people and then-President Turgut Özal. It was not until 60 years after the coup that a decision of the Turkish Parliament declared the decisions of the Yassiada court invalid.
