ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the manifestations of Turkish militarism from the 1960 intervention to the early 1990s. The narrative will outline how the military elite managed the contradictions inherent in their interpretation of Kemalism, how this informed their approach to constitutional politics and the extent to which their role was restrained by civil society. It will examine the different ways in which domestic repression blended with social representation to produce varying regime strategies. These will be compared to other combinations of militarism and social incorporation identified by Mann as features of the polities of the United States and Western Europe. In the case of Turkey, the relationship between such formations, the advance of capitalism and the decline in the military elite’s autonomy will also be considered. These will be traced through the 1960s, the military intervention of 1971, the subsequent polarisation and fragmentation of Turkish politics, the 1980 coup and the militarisation of southeast Anatolia.
