The regime established in the shadow of 15 July: The coup attempt was a blessing for him

Politics Service

Nine years have passed since the 15 July coup attempt. In line with US policies in the Middle East, the country was driven into a new impasse as a result of the conflict of interests between the Cemaat-AKP coalition, which was tasked with transforming the country into an Islamic republic.

The coup attempt, which AKP President Tayyip Erdoğan described as ‘a blessing from God,’ took the form Erdoğan desired, and the foundations of today's one-man regime began to be laid that day.

Feeling the support of the US and capital powers behind them at all times, the Cemaat-AKP coalition established dominance over all areas of the country, particularly the judiciary and the army, through a series of moves ranging from the Ergenekon operations to the 2010 referendum.

The rising power struggle between the Cemaat and the AKP escalated with conflicts ranging from the MİT crisis to the 17-25 December corruption operations, culminating in the bloody coup attempt on 15 July.

THE DOOR TO TODAY WAS OPENED

Erdoğan instrumentalised the coup attempt that took place nine years ago as the key to today. In the process that began after 7 June 2015, the AKP government, which lost its parliamentary majority for the first time, used the MHP as a lifeline in the internal power struggle that spilled onto the streets on 15 July. Erdoğan, who initially wanted to shift the political responsibility for what happened, developed a discourse of ‘national unity and solidarity’ after his ‘we were deceived’ statements, which he could also use to design the opposition. The first example of this was the Yenikapı Rally held in İstanbul on 7 August.

The rally turned into a show of political leadership for Erdoğan, and his political rapprochement with MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, who was seeking to reshape the state, quickly turned into a broad coalition that would be called the ‘Cumhur Alliance.’ The ‘Presidential Government System’ shaped jointly by the AKP and MHP was approved by the Parliament in January 2017 with the votes of the two parties. Various irregularities occurred during the voting, such as the use of open ballots instead of secret ballots.

THE STATE OF EMERGENCY REGIME WAS MADE PERMANENT

Prior to the Constitutional Referendum held in April 2017, the ‘favour’ rhetoric that Erdoğan had mentioned was put into practice. Under the pretext of the 15 July coup attempt, the state of emergency regime was imposed in three-month periods.

The referendum was held under the state of emergency, which was extended seven times. All elements of the opposition were suppressed under the state of emergency, and detention periods were extended. Strikes were banned and curfews were imposed under the state of emergency. The referendum was marked by the Supreme Election Board's decision to count unstamped ballots as valid. Although there was still a year and a half left until the elections, Bahçeli's call that ‘it is not possible to wait until 3 November 2019’ led to the first presidential and parliamentary elections under the new system being held on 24 June 2018.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled 15 Temmuz’un gölgesinde kurulan rejim: Darbe girişimi O’na lütuf oldu published in BirGün newspaper on July 15, 2025.