Turkish General Staff makes ‘Coup opening’
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was executed after the coup of 1960. Hürriyet photo
The Turkish General Staff has used the word “coup” for the first time in reference to military coups in Turkey.The General Staff used the word “coup” in a statement addressing Parliament’s coup commission’s demand that it reinstate the rank of the republic’s tenth Chief of General Staff, Gen. M. Rüştü Erdelhun, who was one of the victims of the May 27 coup. In the past, the General Staff had only used expressions like “insurrection,” “intervention” or “operation.”
According to the statement, released on the General Staff’s official website, Erdelhun’s rank was reinstated back in 1966.
“The tenth Chief of General Staff, Gen. M. Rüştü Erdelhun, was discharged from duty after the May 27, 1960 military coup, and was retired on July 3, 1960. After his trial, he was sentenced to capital punishment for ‘violating the Constitution’ by the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice, on September 15, 1961. The same day, his punishment was changed to aggravated life imprisonment. In April 24, 1963, his rank was reduced to that of private with a joint enactment. He was released by President Cemal Gürsel due to illness in September 22, 1964. On October 20, 1966, Erdelhun demanded of Chief of General Staff Gen. Cemal Tural reinstate his former rank, as required by the Amnesty Law. … With the consent of the General Staff and the National Defense Ministry, Erdelhun’s rank was reinstated together with that of 9 other generals on February 6, 1967,” the statement reads.
