1960 Turkish coup d'état

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The military coup in Turkey, 1960 was a coup d'etat staged by a group of radical Turkish army officers, from the ranks of colonel and below, against the government of the Democratic Party on May 27, 1960. The leaders of the coup made General Cemal Gürsel, who had not taken any role in the coup, head of state, prime minister and the minister of defence upon completion of the military take-over. The military junta returned the power to civilians 17 months later in October 1961 pressed by General Gursel who resisted the continuation of military rule.

President Celal Bayar, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and some members of the cabinet were arrested and put on trial before a civilian-military tribunal on the island Yassıada in the Sea of Marmara. The politicians were charged with high treason, misuse of public funds and abrogation of the constitution. The tribunals ended with the execution of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, Minister for Foreign Affairs Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Minister of Finance Hasan Polatkan on the island İmralı on September 16, 1961.^[1]