Open figure viewer
Significance
They had lost an appeal against life sentences handed down in 2018, but suspended on appeal, for ousting Turkey’s first Islamist-led government. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then a member of the now-defunct Welfare Party, has made curbing the military a top mission of his 20 years in power.
Impacts
By imprisoning ageing former generals, Erdogan may hope to appease his Islamist base, particularly those victimised in 1997.
The president and his party may also hope to reverse the slide in the polls ahead of elections planned for 2023 -- perhaps for a snap vote.
Erdogan may respond to calls to pardon the jailed former generals, having put out feelers to the military since 2015.
Keywords:
Turkey,
ME/NAF,
EU,
politics,
coup,
judicial,
military,
party,
religion,
emergency,
government,
human rights,
opposition,
public sector
© Oxford Analytica 2021. All rights reserved. This content contains general information about geopolitical, macroeconomic and social developments or (where stated) other matters. It does not contain advice or recommendations that may be relied on. Where links to external websites are provided, this does not indicate that Oxford Analytica or Emerald agree with, endorse or have checked for accuracy the contents of said sites.
2021
You do not currently have access to this content.
