A Second Coup Installs Military Rule for Three Years
General Kenan Evren seizes power amid political violence, then hands back a tightly controlled democracy
Quick facts
- Coup date
- 12 September 1980
- Military leader
- General Kenan Evren
- New constitution approved
- 1982, by 91.4 percent
- Civilian rule restored
- November 1983, Motherland Party government
What happened
In the early morning hours of 12 September 1980, the Turkish armed forces seized control of the country amid what the Library of Congress's Turkey country study calls a chaotic summer of mounting political violence and sectarian unrest. General Kenan Evren headed a five-member National Security Council that ran the country as head of state, and the military-appointed Consultative Assembly presented a new draft constitution in July 1982, which the electorate approved with 91.4 percent support. Evren took office as Turkey's seventh president in November 1982, and parliamentary elections in November 1983 returned the country to civilian rule under a Motherland Party government, though within a constitutional framework the military had written.
Why it matters
The 1980 coup was the third military intervention in the republic's history and the most direct: it dissolved parliament entirely and ruled through military decree for two years before allowing a return to civilian government under a constitution the armed forces themselves had drafted, cementing the military's role as self-appointed guardian of Kemalist secularism for another generation, a role Turkish politics would not fully dislodge until after the failed coup attempt of 2016.
How we know
The 1980 coup, the National Security Council under Evren, the 1982 constitutional referendum, and the 1983 return to civilian rule are documented in the Library of Congress's Turkey country study, drawing on official Turkish government and electoral records of the period.
Sources
- Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. Turkey: A Country Study (Library of Congress Country Studies), Ch. 5 · General sourcecountrystudies.us · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Anadolu Agency. Turkey Remembers Bloody 1980 Coup, 40 Years Ago · Reputable sourceaa.com.tr · The domain "aa.com.tr" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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