The July 15 Coup Attempt and the Transformation of Civil-Military Relations in Turkey

Date: 

Friday, November 18, 2016, 12:00pm to 2:00pm

Location: 

CMES, Room 102, 38 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies presents

Koray ÇalışkanKoray Caliskan
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Boğaziçi University

How to explain the dynamics behind the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey at a time when social scientific literature has been discussing the dynamics behind the dissolution of military tutelary regime in the country? Addressing such an unanticipated puzzle, Professor Çalışkan will argue that the civilian success behind the dissolution of military’s political power in Turkey paradoxically contributed both to the emergence and the failure of the coup attempt organized by a junta composed of Gulenist officers and their collaborators in the army. Describing the historical evolution of civil-military relations in the country, he will explain the dissolution of military tutelary regime with reference to a combination of push and pull factors. Finally, he will present the dynamics behind the emergence and failure of the latest coup attempt that took place on July 15, 2016.  

Koray Çalışkan is associate professor of political science at Bogazici University, where he now works on political parties, marketisation and authoritarianism. He received his PhD with distinction from New York University, with which he earned the Malcolm Kerr Social Science Award from the Middle East Studies Association. Previously, Çalışkan worked as a columnist on politics in Radikal and BirGün newspapers and as a program host for Haberturk and +1 TV  in Istanbul. His book Market Threads analyzes international trade and global markets, particularly in Turkey, Egypt, and the United States (Princeton University Press, 2011). He owns a film production company where he directed and produced various fiction and documentary films, including In Flames, a popular political comedy on Kurdish question, that opened in 200 theatres in Europe and the Middle East.

Please note: this is a brown bag lunch event; beverages and dessert will be provided.

Contact: Liz Flanagan