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in: The Quest for Democracy: Examining Civil-Military Relations in Muslim Societies, Sami A. Al-Arian, Editor, İstanbul Sebahattin Zaim University Press, İstanbul, pp.274-288, 2021
Civil-military relations in Turkey, as elsewhere, cannot be entirely explained by domestic factors. Both Turkey’s general foreign policy orientation and the United States as Turkey’s major partner during and after the Cold War have exerted tremendous influence over civil-military relations in Turkey. The United States in particular determined not only the structure of the Turkish General Staff until recently but also shaped the type of coups attempted by the military. Turkish foreign policy choices, when combined with a political climate permissive for military coups d’état, may provide crucial justification for and background to the occurrence of coups. This paper will tackle the role of the United States and foreign policy in civil-military relations in Turkey from the onset of the Cold War until the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt.