President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan granted amnesty to some of the convicts imprisoned in the Feb. 28 post-modern coup case due to old age and health problems on Friday.
The amnesty encompasses former Gen. Fevzi Türkeri, who was serving a life sentence for his involvement in the coup, together with Yıldırım Türker, Cevat Temel Özkaynak, Erol Özkasnak, Çevik Bir, Hacı Sülük, Aliefter Aslan, Avni Yılmaz, Sevda Yüksel and Çetin Doğan.
The 84-year-old Doğan, who was a former general, was hospitalized due to health problems on March 1 and was discharged and sent back to prison on April 22.
On Feb. 28, 1997, the lives of millions took a sharp turn, especially women expelled from schools for wearing headscarves and men deemed "too conservative" to hold public sector jobs and were fired, as well as others who suffered threats and lengthy legal processes, after the Turkish army, then still adhering to a tradition of self-proclaimed "tutelage" of Türkiye's secular elite, joined forces with the judiciary organs in vehement opposition to what they called "reactionary forces" in power.
The path to the coup seemingly started after the coalition government of the Welfare Party (RP) with the True Path Party (DYP), overwhelmingly endorsed by conservative voters, took the reins for the first time in Türkiye in 1996.
Actions of RP supporters and then-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan exacerbated the situation, such as an event in support of Palestine organized by an RP mayor and a regulation Erbakan planned to implement ensuring the freedom to wear the headscarf at universities.
These actions were among the perceived "reactionary" activities for secular extremists, which perpetuated a witch hunt against conservative Muslims through media outlets.
On the road to the coup, the intimidation escalated, such as a parade of tanks on the streets of Ankara's Sincan, where the pro-Palestine event was held, and the suspension of the mayor on the same day.
Then-President Süleyman Demirel further escalated political tensions with thinly veiled barbs at the Erbakan-led government.
Though Erbakan tried to de-escalate tensions with his statements, the all-too-powerful National Security Council (MGK), dominated by the military brass, was determined to oust the government. On Feb. 28, it released a declaration highlighting what the council called "attempts by anti-regime elements trying to weaken the state."
It was later revealed that the military brass asked the government to implement a 20-article list, from the conversion of imam-hatip schools, which also offers a religious curriculum, to blocking employment of soldiers expelled from the army for their "reactionary background."
Erbakan did not sign the declaration, while Tansu Çiller tried to convince him not to draw the military's ire.
Ultimately, Erbakan stepped down from the post months later. When he resigned, the RP was already facing a lawsuit for its closure by the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, his resignation and formation of a new government without the RP did not end the coup process. Erbakan and other RP politicians faced political bans, while more people were removed from their public posts.
Five years later, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a protege of Erbakan, led the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to power and reverted the state's policies to include conservative citizens. Most famously, the AK Party lifted a headscarf ban in the public sector and schools.
