Research On Turkish Military And Political Relations: 1946-1963

On July 16,2016,an attempted military coup took place in Turkey.International political and academic circles once again paid attention to the civil-military relations in Turkey,as well as Turkey's development path.Before that,the Republic Turkey witnessed at least four successful military coups.The frequent occurrence of military coups has made Turkey's civil-military relations tortuous.Civil-military relations have become a key issue in the process of democratization,which is of great significance to the current and future consolidation of democracy in Turkey.The evolution of Turkey's civil-military relations is not only unique,but also universal because of Turkey's Islamic cultural background.At the same time,Turkey's civil-military relations is not only a matter of democratization,but also related to the whole development path of Turkey,so it has great research value.Because of Turkey's strong military tradition,Turkey's army is closely related to politics.In the period of one-party system,the army acquiesced in the symbiotic relationship with the ruling party and remained loyal to it.In 1946,Turkey changed from a one-party system to a multi-party system.The change of political system means the change of the role of the army.At the same time,in the context of the cold war,the United States began to assist Turkey.With the evolution of the old and new regimes,the internal structure of the Turkish army began to change.In 1950,when the Democratic Party entered the political arena,its military status declined.later,the political dictatorship of the ruling party pushed Turkey to the brink of crisis.The army fulfilled the duty of guardian of the Republic and launched a military coup to overthrow the Democratic Government in 1960.The army took this opportunity to adjust its status in the form of legislation and then returned power to the civilian government.After the return of the civilian government,due to the internal division of the army,civil-military relations remained tense,but most of the officers and the government reached a consensus.With joint efforts,Turkey's civil-military relations returned to normal at the end of 1963.This paper focuses on the first military coup in the history of the Republic,taking the military coup as a breakthrough point can provide a great reference for the later study of civil-military relations.In addition,the analysis of Turkish military tradition and the discussion of the internal structure and differentiation of the army provide a new perspective for the study of civil-military relations.The purpose of this paper is to study Turkish civil-military relations from 1946 to 1963,including the following three parts.The first part combs the civil-military relations between the Ottoman Empire and the early Turkish Republic.Firstly,it outlines the military development process of the Ottoman Empire.In the early period of the Empire,the period of modernization reform and the late period of the Empire,the relations between the army and politics is also different.After the founding of Republic,Kemal advocated the separation of military and government,but gave the army a high social prestige.The army in this period was the pioneer of domestic reform.Turkey has a strong military tradition,a high social status of the Turkish army,and military culture has a great impact on society,which is closely related to its military tradition.The ranks of officers are also stratified according to the criteria.Different ranks of officers have different social status and reactions to external changes.This also provides an explanation for why the officers intervened in politics.The second part mainly analyses Turkey's civil-military relations from 1946 to 1960,and highlights the situation of the army in the process of Turkey's transition from one-party system to multi-party system.The changes of political system have a profound impact on the army.Especially under the multi-party democratic politics,the role of the army has changed,and there are different views on democratic politics within the army.During the period of the Democratic Party in power,especially in the later period,the economy was in a predicament,the political dictatorship was adopted,the economic and political situation of the army became worse and worse,and the plight of the junior officers was difficult,which eventually led to the military coup in 1960.The 1960 military coup was a manifestation of the escalation of contradictions between Turkey's military and political relations.This coup was closely related to the division within the army.This division was mainly due to the transformation of the political system,and the assistance provided by the United States to Turkey further expanded the division within the army.Although these assistance helped Turkey solve many difficulties,it also led to Turkey's over-reliance on the United States.Economic stagnation,unable to fundamentally solve the problem,has led to changes in the world outlook and values of some officers.The third part elaborates on the civil-military relations between 1960 and 1963.After the coup,the military government took over the regime,began to exert political influence,established the National Unity Committee,and defended the legitimacy of the coup in 1960.However,due to the lack of experience in military political management and the divergence of views of the National Unity Committee,most officers reached a consensus with the government and returned to the civilian government.At the same time,the army devoted itself to formulating a new constitution to safeguard the rights and interests and status of the military during its reign in power.By analyzing the civil-military relations under the 1961 constitutional framework,and comparing the changes of Turkish civil-military relations during this period,the new Constitution guaranteed the economic and political status of the army.After the return of the civilian government,the internal division of the army was serious.Some officers were dissatisfied with the new civilian government.They launched two coups in succession,but ended in failure.By analyzing the relationship between the two coups and the 1960 coup,we can grasp the track of civil-military relations from 1960 to 1963.The history and social status of the army,the drawbacks of Turkish civilian politics,the development of democratic politics and the division within the army make Turkey's civil-military relations complex and changeable.In a country with democratic politics,the army should be under the control of a civilian government.However,from the period of democratic experiment to the period of democratic consolidation,the Turkish army has repeatedly engaged in politics,From the point of view of motive and effect,simple negation can not explain the whole Turkish military politics,it has its rationality.However,with the transformation of Turkey's economy and society,the subtle change of people's attitudes towards civilian politics,Erdogan's dislike and fear of military politics,and external pressure,especially from the European Union and the United States,Turkish military attitudes towards civilian politics are also undergoing profound changes.Turkey's political road is in an important transition period,and the civil-military relations is an important observation point.