Two reasons prompted the Turkish army to stage a coup

Turkish police blockaded an armored vehicle belonging to the coup group in the capital Ankara.

Turkish people were shocked when a group of military officers and soldiers carried out a sudden coup with the aim of overthrowing the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15.

History of coups

In the second half of the 20th century, the Turkish army conducted four coups in 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997 to overthrow the government or make major interventions in politics.

The 1960 coup was a challenge to Prime Minister Adnan Menderes’s administration’s offer of negotiations with Russia during the tense period of the Cold War as well as the path toward religious freedom in Türkiye.

Democracy in Türkiye was only restored in 1966, but in 1971 another coup broke out.

After the 1980 coup, the Turkish military held power for about three years.

According to analysts, the military has a huge role and influence in Türkiye’s history.

The Turkish Constitution also stipulates that the country’s military can intervene in the country’s internal affairs when needed to resolve a crisis.

Meanwhile, President Erdogan is someone who has many times had conflicts with the military.

That relationship has become even more strained by Mr. Erdogan’s recent `permanent` change in foreign policy.

Recently, Mr. Erdogan has advocated rapprochement with the US and Russia, intensifying the campaign to attack IS, causing a wave of suicide bombings by IS in retaliation against Turkish security forces to increase.

Tensions in relations between Türkiye and the Kurdish separatist movement also put the country’s army in danger, having to guard against both IS and attacks from Kurdish militia at the same time.

Increasing dissatisfaction and the threats faced every day could be one of the important motivations for Turkish soldiers to take up arms in a coup, analysts say.

Gulen Movement

Rabbi Fethullah Gulen.

In addition to historical factors, the Gulen movement is also a root cause leading to the coup in Türkiye, Mr. McGeough said.

The movement is led by Fethullah Gulen, a 79-year-old Muslim cleric living in the town of Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.

Gulen came to the US to seek asylum in 1999 and was tried in absentia by a Turkish court on charges of plotting against the secular Turkish state.

The influence and financial resources that Gulen’s organization holds are considered `formidable`.

Mr. Erdogan was reluctant to admit that from the beginning.

But Mr. Erdogan gradually lost trust in Gulen.

In February 2014, during a meeting of the Turkish National Security Council, with the participation of a series of high-ranking military generals, Mr. Erdogan decided to list the Gulen movement as a threat to the country.

A few weeks later, Mr. Erdogan admitted that he was too subjective in letting this movement hold too much power.

In a victory speech after local government elections in March 2014, Erdogan warned that he was cracking down on followers of the Gulen movement.

`We will enter their lair… They will pay the price,` he declared.

Observers say that Mr. Erdogan’s efforts are somewhat effective in law enforcement and judicial agencies, but cannot eliminate the influence of the Gulen movement in the military.

Mr. Erdogan’s declaration of war may have sparked insecurity among the ranks of high-ranking officers in the Turkish military, forcing them to take action, analysts said.