Türkiye remembers 1980 military coup on 44th anniversary
ANKARA
Türkiye has commemorated the 44th anniversary of the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup, during which then chief of the general staff toppled the coalition government and dismissed the Turkish parliament.
The coup marked the third time the Turkish military took hold of the democratically elected government and declared a state of emergency, which saw executions, assaults and human rights violations. The parliament was dissolved, the constitution was revoked, and all political parties were shut down, while their assets were seized.
“Just as the social, political and economic costs of Sept. 12 coup were overcome with the determination of our nation, it is now our foremost duty to throw the coup constitution into the dustbin of history and to craft a democratic, civil inclusive and libertarian constitution that fully reflects the will of our nation.” Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said on the anniversary of the coup.
As Türkiye’s current constitution was written after the 1980 coup, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has expressed need for a new charter.
Kurtulmuş initiated talks with other political parties regarding potential constitutional change.
Referring to the coup and its aftermath as a period that economically, politically and socially regressed Türkiye by years, Kurtulmuş said, "The time has come to leave behind the remnants of coups, and the most significant vestige of those times — the 1982 Constitution."
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said that the coup will always be remembered with “shame,” noting that the attempt to destroy the will of the nation by closing the parliament will never be forgotten.
“We will continue to raise the standards of our democracy and pave the way for fundamental rights and freedoms without departing from the rule of law and justice, and by learning from the painful events we have experienced.”
Fifty people were executed, an estimated half-a-million arrested, hundreds died in prison and many more disappeared during the three years of military rule following the coup.
The 1980 coup leaders argued they were forced to intervene to restore order after years of chaos, in which an estimated 5,000 people died in factional violence between leftist and rightist groups.
More than 650,000 people were taken into custody, 230,000 people were put on trial, 1.68 million people were blacklisted, 517 people received the death penalty and 50 of the death penalties were executed.
