Tele1 Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ and political scientist Prof. Dr. Emre Kongar discussed what they described as a “coup within a coup” in Turkey during the July 17, 2018 episode of the “18 Dakika” program.
The discussion came after Turkey formally shifted to an executive presidential system following the June 24, 2018 elections, a change backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and approved in a disputed 2017 constitutional referendum.
Critics of the new system said it concentrated power in the presidency, weakened parliament and reduced checks and balances. Supporters argued that it would bring stability and more efficient governance.
Yanardağ and Kongar examined the new political structure in the context of the state of emergency declared on July 20, 2016, five days after Turkey’s July 15 coup attempt. Government critics have referred to that moment as the “July 20 coup,” arguing that the emergency regime allowed Erdoğan’s government to rule by decree, purge state institutions, close media outlets and reshape the judiciary.
Ankara blames the attempt on the Gülen movement, a transnational civic initiative inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, and designates the movement as a terrorist organization. The movement denies involvement.
The phrase “coup within a coup” reflected the program’s argument that the failed military intervention of July 15 was followed by a second political rupture through emergency rule and the consolidation of executive power.
The episode also addressed the CHP’s response to the new political order and the opposition’s struggle to define a strategy under a system in which the presidency had become the central institution of government.
The video below presents Yanardağ and Kongar’s discussion of Turkey’s new system, the July 20 coup debate and the political challenges facing the CHP.
