Despite bitter memories of the postmodern coup of Feb. 28, 1997, in which the military overthrew a coalition government led by a now-defunct conservative party, Turkey is more hopeful than ever of settling its accounts with pro-coup factions within the military and getting its democratic system back on track on the coup’s 13th anniversary, reports Today’s Zaman.

Turkey’s has painful recollections of the Feb. 28 period because of the blow the military dealt to fundamental rights and freedoms. However, the country is seemingly more hopeful about its future, particularly in terms of a strong democracy and the supremacy of the rule of law. What has led to such optimism is an attempt by judicial bodies to settle accounts with the coup instigators of the recent past.

Turkey woke up to a pretty lively week on Feb. 22. A total of 49 retired and active duty members of the military were taken into custody as part of a civilian investigation into alleged coup plots, titled Balyoz (Sledgehammer) and Kafes (Cage). This was the highest-profile crackdown ever carried out on the military. On Friday, an additional 18 military officers were also detained. The subversive plots included blowing up mosques during Friday prayers, attacking a museum with bombs and other explosives during a visit by young students and turning stadiums into open-air prisons capable of holding tens of thousands of people if they challenged the coup troops.

“The world keeps changing. In full harmony, so does Turkey. Military values are losing their importance and grasp on civilian life. In Turkey, people increasingly object to military interventions [in politics]. They are raising their voices against the military’s role in politics,” stated Ali Bayramoğlu, a columnist for the Yeni Şafak daily. According to the columnist, however, Turkey still has a significant distance to cover in the fight against military takeovers and subversive plans to that end.

“This necessitates social transformation. The judiciary, politics and the media in Turkey are currently divided into two camps. Such a division is not common in the democratic world. We need to get rid of this division and this requires time,” he remarked.

In early 1997, uneasy with the existence of a conservative party — the Welfare Party (RP) — in government, the General Staff sought ways to do away with the government. The National Security Council (MGK) made several decisions during a meeting on Feb. 28 and presented them to then-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, also the leader of the RP, for approval. Erbakan was forced to sign the decisions, and he subsequently resigned. The event has since been termed a “postmodern coup.”

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