"NO TO CONSTITUTION": 1961 CONSTITUTION REFERENDUM AND SAMSUN

The term referandum marks a general vote by the electorate conducted on various political or social questions. It is a democratic data collection instrument that is frequently employed in the world in the last century. The first referendum in the Republic of Turkey was conducted on July 9, 1961, after the military coup of May 27, 1960 under the strict rule of the military board. In the referendum held by the military administration, the people said "yes" at 62% and "no" at 38%. Samsun was one of the regions voting mostly for "No" in the referendum 1961. Despite the fact that a propaganda campaign was carried out by the ruling junta as well as the supporting civil society associations, the people in Samsun said "no" to the Constitution by 57%. This study investigates the dynamics of the results pertaining to the constitutional referandum in Samsun and the period of propaganda in the country with reference to the archival documents, periodicals and oral sources