Civil-Military Relations In Turkish Politics, 15th July And The Issue Of Religious Groups

Civil-military relations have always remained an important dynamic of Turkish politics. The Turkish military have taken initiatives, at various periods, to arguably bring civil administrations to reason by intervening in politics. As a result of that continuous interventions, various coups or coup attempts have taken place so far. Although the way in which these coups or coup attempts have occurred outside conventional methods of the military, the military elite have been successful in reaching the desirable outcome. One of the most significant recent indicence in terms of civil-military relations is obviously facilitated on 15th July 2016 when a coup attempt was initiated by FETO organization that consists of military personnel nested in the army. Since this vicious attempt, the discussions around civil-military relations have re-emerged and the issue of religious groups in the country have been, once again, the main focus in various lights. This paper offers a debate on how to deal with the 15th July coup attempt in relation with religious groups. It also goes on to address civil-military relation up to now