Civil-military relations and military interventions in Türkiye in U.S. intelligence documents and sources (1944–1980)

This study focuses on the issue of military-politics relations and military interventions in Turkiye within U.S. intelligence documents and sources between 1944 and 1980. Taking its place in the Western bloc within the bipolar international systemic structure following World War II, Turkey faced foreign policy necessities and domestic political polarizations as a natural counterpart of the Cold War. During this period, the overthrow of civilian governments by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) through the military interventions of May 27, 1960, March 12, 1971, and September 12, 1980 played a pivotal role both in Turkey, the region, and the international system. These military interventions disrupted Turkiye's democratic structure and established the guardianship of the military bureaucracy over civilians. Whether the United States of America (USA) was behind the military interventions that occurred in Turkiye has been frequently voiced by politicians, academics, and the press, and has been the subject of academic studies. In the study, declassified and publicly accessible U.S. intelligence documents and the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) archive were used as primary sources to seek answers to the civil-military relations problem in Turkiye between 1945 and 1980 through coups. In the conceptual framework, the concepts of coup, memorandum, and revolution were examined on an etymological level. In the theoretical framework, civil-military relations theories were utilized, and the military interventions that took place in Turkiye were theoretically explained. The study employed Alons's "Polarization Analysis Method," Brecher's "Foreign Policy Analysis Method," and the "Coup Methodology" from the CIA's declassified documents. The main question of the study is: "What are the fundamental problems of militarypolitics relations in military interventions?" and the hypothesis is: "Existing Military- Politics Relations Theories have an orientalist perspective in terms of the Republic of Turkiye, or the Republic of Turkey requires its own unique Military/Politics relations theory/theories due to its geopolitical position and strategic culture." Keywords: Coup, May 27, 1960, March 12, 1971, September 12, 1980, Military- Politics Relations