Asker Kökenli Yassıada Sanıklarının 27 Mayıs Darbesi Öncesindeki Konumları ve İadeiitibarlarına Giden Süreç: 1950 – 1967
Sacit YarımoğluBu makalede, 27 Mayıs 1960 Darbesi’nden etkilenen mevcut ordu üst yönetimi ya da emekli konumda DP’den siyasete atılmış asker kökenli milletvekillerinin darbe sonrasındaki durumları incelenecektir. Makalenin kapsamı içerisinde üç önemli kırılma noktası vardır. Birincisi DP’nin 1950 yılında iktidar olmasıyla birlikte TSK’yla kurduğu ilişkilerdir. İkincisi 1960 yılında DP ile birlikte hareket eden ordu üyelerinin, 27 Mayıs Darbesi’nin gerçekleşmesine -cuntacılara göre olan etkileridir. Çünkü onlar, en çok bu yönleriyle cuntacıların dikkatini -olumsuz anlamda- çekeceklerdir. 1960-1967 yılları arasındaki gelişmeler ise asker kökenli milletvekillerinin ya da 27 Mayıs Darbesi öncesinde ordu üst kademesinde bulunan bazı generallerin Yassıada’da yargılanmaları ve ceza almaları sonucunda alınan rütbelerinin, kendilerine iade edilmesiyle sonlanmıştır.
Position of the Military-Based Yassıada Defendants before the 1960 Coup and the Restoration of Their Honor: 1950 – 1967
Sacit YarımoğluThis article examines the post-coup situation of the current army senior administration or military-based deputies who had retired from the army and been thrown into politics within the Democrat Party (DP). There are three important break points noted in this article. The first relates to the relationships that the DP established with the Turkish Armed Forces when it came to power in 1950. The second concerns the effects of the actions of army personnel who acted together with the DP on the realization of the 1960 coup with regard to the junta, as they attracted the attention of the junta in a negative sense. Lastly, the developments between 1960 and 1967 consequently ended with the recovery of the ranks taken from the military-based deputies or generals who had been in the upper echelon of the army before the 1960 coup, after being convicted and sentenced in Yassıada trials.
The DP embodied hope both for those tired of the one-party regime and for some officers in the army. Although Turkey was one of the few countries in Europe to avoid major damage in World War II due to İsmet İnönü’s leadership, it had shouldered an additional economic burden due to the war, and this was perhaps harder for the military than for other members of the public. Thus, one reason for the May 27 coup was the low social status of military personnel due to economic difficulties. Immediately after the war, the reaction was directed against the CHP (Republican People’s Party) for the period of 1946 – 1950. This necessitated examining the attitude of some army members toward the CHP. The CHP, which founded modern Turkey, was dominant in the military before turning to the DP. Alternatively, the positions of military bureaucrats during the DP period acted as triggers for the events that led to the 1960 coup. This caused polarization within the army and differences of opinion between the members of the army who followed a management approach in favor of the DP and those who did not. Several groups reacted against the DP during the 1950 –1960 period, including intellectuals, civil bureaucrats, and some of the press members. As a matter of fact, especially in the second half of the 1950s, the economic policies followed by the DP led part of the public to react against the DP government. Parallel to this, the pressure exerted by the DP to take control of the social sphere resulted in reverberations among universities and thus students, which in turn, resulted in protests, mostly among the young people. Therefore, as the coup began to develop, these protests were severely suppressed by the senior management of the military, who acted in favor of the DP, with the exception of the police forces. Therefore, the military coup of May 27 was largely conducted by lower-ranking personnel.
Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces Rüştü Erdelhun was brought down from the administration is also important in this context. This article investigates the 1960 coup in a novel way, asking the main question, “Have military command echelon been sufficiently emphasized in the study of military coups?” In fact, the aforementioned issue -after the dismissal process of the superiors- has not been sufficiently emphasized, as the main issue investigated in relation to coups is the governments that are overthrown. In our case, the people most commonly mentioned in the 1960 coup context are a few powerful people in the DP. After the military coup of May 27, 1960, however, not only the military cadres who supported DP, but also politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, and others were affected from the coup process and Yassıada trials. For these groups, the injustices in the Yassıada trials are obvious. Therefore, both Yassıada defendants, who were members of the army on May 27, 1960, and the defendants who entered politics in the DP received their share of these negative trials. However, especially in the second half of 1965, when the Justice Party, a supporter of the DP political line, came to power alone, the political pressures in the post-May 27 coup period were broken to some extent. Thus, after the Yassıada process, the defendants who served their sentences mostly in Kayseri and Adana prisons were released first. Then, the defendants of military origin overcame the grievances arising from their professional rights -such as military rank reinstatement, retired pay-, even if this occurred late. This article discusses the adventures of the defendants of military origin for the 1960 coup investigating the subject beginning with the start of the DP’s rule in 1950 and ending with the rights offered to military personnel based on their ranks.
