POLITICS IN TÜRKİYE BETWEEN TWO MILITARY INTERVENTIONS (1960-1971)

This article examines Türkiye’s political landscape between 1960 and 1971, a decade marked by two military interventions and significant structural transformations. Drawing primarily on annual reports prepared by British Ambassadors, it analyses how these documents interpreted Türkiye’s domestic politics and influenced British foreign policy.This article synthesizes political developments in Türkiye from 1960 to 1971, from the overthrow of the Democrat Party to the 12 March 1971 Memorandum. Drawing on contemporaneous diplomatic annual reviews and subsequent analyses, it reconstructs the interaction between civilian politics and military tutelage, the evolution of constitutional engineering under the 1961 framework, and the role of socio-economic pressures, labour mobilization, student radicalism, and macroeconomic imbalances, in shaping outcomes. Year-by-year sections provide an analytic narrative of institutions, actors, and turning points, followed by a consolidated assessment. The article reveals that the decade witnessed profound political turbulence: the 1960 coup, constitutional reforms, coalition governments, socio-economic modernization efforts, and escalating ideological polarization culminating in the 1971 military memorandum. These developments underscore the interplay between domestic instability, military influence, and democratic aspirations, while highlighting the role of external observers in interpreting Türkiye’s political trajectory.