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INTRODUCTION:

A coup d’état is a form of political instability. Specifically, a coup attempt can be defined as an
“illegal and overt attempt by the military or other elites within the state apparatus to unseat the sitting
executive” (Powell & Thyne, 2011). A successful coup is one in which the ruling power transfers to a
different executive for at least a notable period of time. Following these definitions, there were 457
coup attempts world-wide from 1950 to 2010, with 227 being successful coups. Coup attempts occur
most commonly in the Americas and Africa (145 and 169).

Overall, coups have decreased in frequency over time .Despite this decrease, coups are important to
study because they remain a complex situation in which the full impact on society is unclear, but can
involve significant events (e.g. bloodshed, civil war, economic decline or improvement, strained or
improved international relations). For example, a bloody 1975 coup in Bangladesh resulted in a
decades-long civil war. Events such as Bangladesh’s civil war render the study of coups both important
and necessary so that we can better understand immediate and long-term outcomes of coups.

In this article I tried to investigate the interaction between coups and democracy on the change in the
trend of development and democracy and I found that there is a opposite relation between military
coups and democracy and development.

1971 MILITARY COUP.

More than 200 successful military coups have taken place in 95 countries over the last 75 years.

In March 12 ,1971—The Turkish armed forces unseated the Government but made no move to take
over actual rule as they did 11 years ago.

Premier Suleyman Demirel resigned under an ultimatum from the military leaders to quit or face a
military takeover.

The military officers demanded a government strong enough to halt what they described as anarchy.

The ultimatum was issued by the country's four leading military men in the form of a memorandum to
the President and the leaders of the Assembly and Senate.

As broadcast by the state radio, it said “The continuing attitude of the Parliament and Government has
pushed our country into anarchy, fratricide, and social and economic unrest.”

The generals demanded new government “above party politics,” and warned: “If this is not speedily
realized the Turkish armed forces are determined to seize power to protect the Turkish Republic as is
their duty according to law.”
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Mr. Demirel had been in office since 1965 when his conservative Justice party won the national
election. He and his party won elections again in 1969 but recently he virtually lost control of his own
party in Parliament through defections of ultra-rightists.

1997 - POSTMODERN COUP

The Islamist REFAH or Welfare Party polled the most votes in the 1995 national election and came to
power in July 1996 as head of a coalition government. Some REFAH actions provoked the military,
which labeled what it called ?reactionaryism? or fundamentalism one of the two main threats to the
state. (The other is separatism.) On February 28, 1997, the military-dominated National Security
Council issued a series of recommendations or ultimatums to the government on actions needed to
protect secularism. The military succeeded in forcing the Refah-led government from power later that
year and Refah was banned in 1998, but it was succeeded by the Fazilet Party.

The name 'postmodern coup' was given to the clash between the army and the political leadership on
Feb. 28, 1997 in which the military overthrew the coalition government led by Necmettin Erbakan of
the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP). The military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed
a "postmodern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. The military demanded that Erbakan
stop or reverse policies seen as promoting Islam in government affairs. It increasingly applied overt
pressure on Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan of the conservative Islamic Welfare (Refah) Party. At a
meeting of the NSC on 28 February 1997, Top Commanders issued an 18-point declaration, asking the
government to take measures to curb the growing Islamist activities.

Enough members of the junior coalition partner defected to cause the Erbakan government to fall and
force Erbakan to step down. The overall effect of this experience was to show that Refah cannot
change Turkish foreign policy and to harden non-Islamist opposition to Refah. In all of these coups,
the majority of the Turkish public accepted the military's actions because they felt they were necessary
for the well being of the state and because the military did not seek to impose permanent military
governance.

What happens when the army takes over a country?

In a coup, it is the military, paramilitary, or opposing political faction that deposes the current
government and assumes power; whereas, in the pronunciamiento, the military deposes the existing
government and installs an (ostensibly) civilian government.

Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil
law by a government, especially in response to a temporary emergency where civil forces are
overwhelmed.

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Coups d'état and Democracy: Implications on Development:

Coups d’état are a type of political instability that involves a sitting ruler being overthrown by his or
her own military or other elite within the state apparatus. Coups are commonly viewed as a threat to
democracy.

there is no evidence that donor countries change their behavior in response to recent coups. A post-hoc
analysis of failed coup attempts was also conducted. This analysis revealed that donors do in fact
change their behavior in response to failed coup, such that

donors tend to increase their aid to the failed coup states. This effect was observed despite the fact that
the vast majority of coups occur in autocratic states.

A recent studies found that coups can help usher in democracy. If we examine this relationship
empirically by looking at the political regimes that follow coups in autocracies, as well as the level of
repression against citizens. We find that, though democracies are occasionally established in the wake
of coups, more often new authoritarian regimes emerge, along with higher levels of state-sanctioned
violence.

So, I’m totally against military coups, as the democracy can’t come on the tanks.

References:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2053168016630837

https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1051&context=mpampp_etds

https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/13/archives/turkish-regime-is-ousted-by-the-military-leaders-no-
move-made-to.html?auth=login-google1tap&login=google1tap

https://uknowledge.uky.edu/msppa.