Kenan Evren
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| Kenan Evren | |
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| In office 12 September 1980 – 9 November 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Fahri Korutürk |
| Succeeded by | Turgut Özal |
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| Born | July 17, 1918 Alaşehir, Manisa |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Spouse | Sakine Evren |
Ahmet Kenan Evren (born 17 July 1918 in Alaşehir, Manisa), is a former Turkish general, the leader of the coup d'etat on 12 September 1980 and the 7th president of Turkey.
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[edit] Early life
After going to elementary school and middle school in Manisa, Balıkesir and İstanbul, he attended military high school in Maltepe, Ankara. In 1938, he graduated from army school and in 1949 from military academy as a staff officer. From 1958 to 1959, he served in Korea. In 1964 he was made general. Evren served at various posts as Army Chief. He was Counter-Guerrilla's commander, Gladio's Turkish branch of NATO's "stay-behind" secret armies [1]. He became Chief joint staff in 1978.
[edit] Military coup
He led the military coup of 12 September 1980. Years leading to the coup were characterized as a fierce competition between the rightists and leftists. Hoping to see a communist revolution, the left wingers rioted in the streets; on the other hand, the nationalist rightists fought back the left wingers and provoked religious arousement. Universities had taken sides and each became headquarters for either the leftists or rightists. The political leaders Suleyman Demirel and Bülent Ecevit were incapable of having control of the violence. The coup was welcomed by many Turks who believed it saved the country from total destruction. With the coup came the National Security Council as the ruling body. The council of 1980 was composed of the commanders Kenan Evren, the Chief of Staff and President of the State; moreover, the chief commanders of the armed forces. The parliament was dissolved. He and his team of force commanders were named "our boys" in the CIA headquarters after the coup.[1]
After the coup, in 1982, Kenan Evren was elected as President of Republic of Turkey on November 7 with the 90% approval of the new constitution that was submitted to a public plebiscite, replacing the older constitution which, according to him, had "luxurious" liberties for Turkey[citation needed]. He suspended many forms of civil liberties and human rights on the grounds that it was necessary to establish stability. He seemed to have great admiration for the founder of Turkey, Kemal Atatürk; ironically he shut down many institutions founded by Atatürk and is often accused of deforming the country's legal system against Atatürk's principles. During his military regime, many people were tortured and executed because of their political beliefs. In a very controversial event he made his infamous comment on executions: "Asmayalım da besleyelim mi?" (Should we feed them rather than hanging them?)[citation needed]. Evren took strong measures to ensure that the division between the political left and right would not turn into violence again; the new constitution limited the rights and depoliticized the youth.
[edit] Following Presidency
After his retirement, he moved to the Turkish Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris and took up painting. On 2 August 2006, a reported plan for assassinating Evren was thwarted when two men were apprehended and arrested in Muğla [2]. A previous attempt in 1996 had already been tracked down when two members of the assassination team spoke on a cellphone eavesdropped by the police, and adhan could be heard during their conversation. Since the timing of the adhan was 4-5 minutes after İstanbul, a point slightly more to the west by that time margin was sought and the team members were caught in Marmaris itself. [3]
After Bülent Ecevit's death, he stated his remorse about arresting the political leaders after the coup d'etat of September 12. [4]
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Biography from the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey
- (Turkish) İşte komutanlara göre PKK sorunu
| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by Semih Sancar |
Chief of the General Staff of Turkey Mar 7, 1978–Jul 1, 1983 |
Succeeded by Nurettin Ersin |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Fahri Korutürk |
President of Turkey Nov 7, 1982–Nov 9, 1989 |
Succeeded by Turgut Özal |
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