Dionysios Dragonas
(Postgraduate Student, Msc Crisis and Security Management, Leiden University, the Netherlands, & RIEAS Senior Analyst)
Copyright: @ 2021, Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) – Publication date: 28 March 2021.
Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the view of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS),
Abstract
Intelligence services constitute the backbone of national security in democratic societies. Military coups pose an eternal threat for democracies. From the combination of the aforementioned phrases derives the logical assumption that coup prevention holds the primacy of prioritization of national intelligence services. Buying that assumption triggered the composition of the present paper. In this regard, the essay is concentrated on a country that has a long history of overthrown regimes; Turkey. From 1960 to 2016, Turkish society has undergone 5 military coups, five of them “successful”. However, the latest coup, that of 2016, is to be characterized as a failed attempt, as, the Turkish President R. T. Erdogan, managed to maintain his authority, overcoming the threat of the establishment of a military regime. Verily, a series of questions are brought about in the aftermath of the events of July 2016, in terms of the role of intelligence services prior, during and after the coup attempt. To this end, the present paper accounts for an attempt to evaluate the role of the National Intelligence Services of Turkey (MIT) in the failure of the military coup attempt of July 2016... Read more