Turkish coup d'état

The army was strongly Kemalist and considered one of its roles to be the ultimate guardian of Atatürk's reforms including secularism, and of cooperation with the Western world generally.

There had been economic stagnation, a perceived rise in political Islam, and in 1960 unrest and protests against the ruling Democrat Party.

Each coup or threat has been presented as an intervention to restore democratic order, justice, and national unity.

The first showdown came in 2007 with the E-memorandum, when the army hinted another intervention into civilian politics since the AKP government was not doing its best to uphold republicanism and secularism.

Erdoğan and the AKP won the political crisis, and in an alliance with the Gülenist movement, purged the military of secularist officers.