Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) member Tanju Özcan said Turkey experienced “a failed coup” on July 15, 2016, and “a successful one” on July 20, referring to the state of emergency declared five days after the coup attempt.
Özcan’s remark echoed a phrase frequently used by CHP to argue that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government used the coup attempt as the basis for a sweeping restructuring of the state.
“A failed coup took place on July 15, and a successful one on July 20,” Özcan said.
July 20 refers to the date in 2016 when Turkey declared a nationwide state of emergency, known by its Turkish acronym OHAL, after the coup attempt.
Under emergency rule, the government issued decree-laws that allowed mass dismissals, institutional closures, asset seizures, passport cancellations and legal measures that bypassed ordinary parliamentary and judicial procedures.
CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has also described the July 20 state of emergency as a “coup,” saying the emergency regime allowed the government to rule by decree and suppress political opposition.
The state of emergency remained in force for two years and was extended seven times before formally ending in July 2018.
Rights groups and opposition parties say many emergency measures have continued through later legislation and administrative practice, turning temporary emergency powers into lasting tools of political control.
The phrase “July 20 coup” is politically charged because it shifts attention from the events of the coup attempt itself to the government response that followed.
For critics, the decisive break in Turkey’s constitutional order came not only on the night of July 15 but also with the emergency regime declared five days later, which enabled mass purges and rule by decree.
Ankara blames the coup attempt on alleged Gülen movement-linked officers, a claim the movement denies.
