Sept. 12 1980 coup in Turkey: 37 years since the bloodbath
Thirty-seven years have passed since the 1980 military coup. Turkey awoke on Sept. 12 to the sounds of tanks. The elected government was overthrown and the sound of combat boots echoed on the streets. After the military intervention, which completely changed Turkey, 650,000 people were taken into custody, 1,683,000 were put under surveillance, 50 people were executed and 171 people were declared to have been “killed by torture.” With the military intervention carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces on Sept. 12, 1980, the Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel was removed from office, and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was nullified. During this nine-year period, parties were invalidated, party leaders were first held in custody, and then prosecuted. The 1961 Constitution, amended after 1970, was completely abandoned and a military period in which Turkey's politics was redesigned began.