Turkey's third military coup suspended democracy for three years, resulting in mass arrests and lasting restrictions on Kurdish cultural rights.
Key Facts
- Date of coup
- 12 September 1980
- Leader
- General Kenan Evren, Chief of the General Staff
- Arrested
- 500,000 people
- Executed after coup
- 50 people
- Military rule duration
- 3 years (1980–1983)
- Sequence in Turkish history
- Third coup (after 1960 and 1971)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Throughout the late 1970s, Turkey experienced intense political violence between far-left groups, far-right Grey Wolves, Islamist militants, and the state. This period of unrest from 1976 to 1980 destabilized civilian governance and created conditions that the military used to justify intervention.
On 12 September 1980, the Turkish Armed Forces under General Kenan Evren seized power in a coup d'état, the country's third. The military swiftly assumed control through the National Security Council, arresting 500,000 people, executing 50, and banning political activity. The coup was welcomed by some segments of society as restoring public order.
For three years the military governed Turkey directly before restoring democratic elections in 1983, which were won by Turgut Özal's Motherland Party. The period intensified state Turkish nationalism, including a ban on the Kurdish language that remained in place until 1991. Full democratic governance was not restored until 1989.