The September 12, 1980 Military Coup and Its Aftermath

June 1, 1980: Turkey remains trapped in a cycle of violence that has not abated since the 1971 memorandum and the martial law periods of 1978-79. Right-wing and left-wing armed groups confront one another in the streets, at universities, and in workplaces; approximately twenty political murders occur daily, and martial law is in effect in twenty provinces. Süleyman Demirel's minority government survives only with the external support of the MSP and MHP. Parliament is deadlocked against Bülent Ecevit's CHP, President Korutürk's term has ended without a successor chosen after dozens of rounds of voting, and Senate President Çağlayangil serves as acting president. The memorandum sent by the commanders to Demirel and Ecevit on December 27, 1979, has not been forgotten. The January 24th economic measures prepared by Turgut Özal are being implemented with IMF support, amidst hyperinflation exceeding one hundred percent, a foreign debt crisis, and severe shortages of fuel and food that have led to long queues. Chief of General Staff Kenan Evren and the four force commanders (Ersin, Şahinkaya, Tümer, Celasun) maintain a tight grip on the chain of command. Alevi-Sunni clashes persist in Çorum; in Fatsa, independent mayor Fikri Sönmez is conducting a local governance experiment through public committees, making him a target. Devrimci Yol, Dev-Sol, the Ülkü Ocakları, DİSK, labor unions, and MSP circles are active on the ground, while the PKK remains a small organization in the Southeast with its leadership based abroad. The CHP mayors of Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir (Ali Dinçer, Ahmet İsvan, İhsan Alyanak) are struggling to keep their cities functioning. The world is in the final decade of the Cold War: the revolution in Iran, the hostage crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the stirrings of the labor movement in Poland, and mounting tensions leading to the Iran-Iraq War. Turkey serves as NATO's southeastern flank, bound by a 1980 defense agreement with the United States, while Greece remains outside NATO's military wing and Cyprus is divided. The outside world watches the developments in Turkey in silence; Washington, Moscow, London, Bonn, Paris, and Brussels wait to see how events align with their own interests. MAP AND ALIGNMENT. The map is drawn with the borders of 1980: the Soviet Union stands as a major Warsaw Pact bloc, while East Germany remains within the Germany cell. Alignment colors indicate Cold War blocs; when the Soviet Union dissolves in 1991, Soviet cells transition to new alignments. HISTORICAL FLOW (default progression; this is how events unfold if the player does not intervene) 1980: On the morning of September 12, the military seizes power through the chain of command. Evren, Ersin, Şahinkaya, Tümer, and Celasun establish the National Security Council. Parliament and the government are dissolved, Demirel, Ecevit, Erbakan, and Türkeş are detained, and unions and associations are suspended. Retired Admiral Bülent Ulusu becomes prime minister, with Özal serving as the deputy prime minister in charge of the economy. Approximately six hundred and fifty thousand people are detained; trials, executions, and torture in Mamak, Metris, and Diyarbakır prisons become routine. The Iran-Iraq War begins on September 22; Turkey remains neutral and trades with both sides. In October, Greece returns to NATO's military wing. In November, Reagan is elected US president. 1981-82: Reagan takes office in January 1981. Pope John Paul II is assassinated on May 13, 1981, with traces of Mehmet Ali Ağca leading back to Turkey. Political parties are dissolved in October 1981, and a Consultative Assembly is established. A new constitution is adopted by referendum in November 1982, and Evren becomes president. The bankers' crisis and ASALA attacks occur. Brezhnev dies in November 1982 and is succeeded by Andropov. 1983-84: In the election of November 6, 1983, the generals' party, MDP, places third; Turgut Özal's ANAP becomes the leading party, and Özal assumes the premiership in December 1983. The TRNC is proclaimed in November. In the March 1984 local elections, ANAP secures the election of mayors such as Bedrettin Dalan (Istanbul) and Burhan Özfatura (Izmir). The PKK carries out its first armed attacks on August 15, 1984. Starting in December 1984, Bulgaria forcibly changes the names of its Turkish minority. Andropov dies in February 1984 and Chernenko in March 1985. 1985-89: Gorbachev takes charge of the Soviet Union in March 1985; glasnost, perestroika, Reagan-Gorbachev summits, and the 1987 INF Treaty resolve the Cold War. In April 1987, Turkey applies for full membership in the EEC. Political bans are lifted through the September 1987 referendum, and ANAP wins again in November 1987. The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan begins in 1988, and the Iran-Iraq War ends. In the March 1989 local elections, SHP wins Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir (Nurettin Sözen, Murat Karayalçın, Yüksel Çakmur). Between May and August 1989, approximately three hundred thousand ethnic Turks arrive in Turkey from Bulgaria. Tiananmen Square occurs on June 4, 1989; in the autumn, communist regimes collapse in Hungary, Poland, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia, the Berlin Wall falls on November 9, and Ceaușescu is toppled in Romania in December. In November 1989, Özal becomes president and Yıldırım Akbulut becomes prime minister. 1990-91: Iraq occupies Kuwait in August 1990; Özal moves closer to the Gulf coalition, and the Iraqi oil pipeline is closed. Germany reunifies in October 1990. The Gulf War takes place in January-February 1991; a refugee influx of Kurds from Northern Iraq follows in April, leading to Operation Provide Comfort. The Warsaw Pact dissolves in 1991, a coup attempt in Moscow fails in August, Yeltsin rises to prominence, the Commonwealth of Independent States is established by the Belovezha Accords on December 8, Gorbachev resigns on December 25, 1991, and the Soviet Union is officially dissolved on December 26. Turkey is among the first countries to recognize the republics of Azerbaijan, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Former Soviet cells transition to being non-aligned and neutral or join new alliances. Yugoslavia begins to fragment. In October 1991, the DYP becomes the leading party; Demirel becomes prime minister, and İnönü becomes deputy prime minister and foreign minister (DYP-SHP coalition). 1992-99: The Karabakh War and the Bosnian War (1992-95). Özal dies on April 17, 1993; Demirel becomes president, and Tansu Çiller becomes prime minister. In July 1993, the Sivas massacre occurs, and clashes with the PKK intensify. In the March 1994 local elections, RP wins Istanbul (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) and Ankara (Melih Gökçek). The April 5th economic decisions and the currency crisis occur in 1994. In December 1995, RP becomes the leading party; Erbakan becomes prime minister in June 1996, with Çiller as deputy prime minister (Refahyol). Military pressure mounts through the NSC decisions of February 28, 1997; Erbakan resigns in June 1997, and the RP is banned in 1998. Due to his speech in Siirt in December 1997, Erdoğan serves four months in prison in 1999. In October 1998, Syria expels Abdullah Öcalan (Adana Agreement), and he is captured in Nairobi in February 1999. April 1999 election: DSP, MHP, and ANAP coalition; Ecevit becomes prime minister, Bahçeli becomes deputy prime minister. The Marmara earthquake on August 17, 1999, claims more than seventeen thousand lives. In December 1999, Turkey receives EU candidacy. 2000-2010: Ahmet Necdet Sezer becomes president in 2000. Currency crisis in February 2001: Kemal Derviş's program and banking reform. In the November 3, 2002 election, the AKP comes to power alone; Gül becomes prime minister, and Erdoğan becomes prime minister in March 2003. The Iraq motion is rejected by Parliament on March 1, 2003. The EU negotiation decision is made in 2004, and negotiations begin in October 2005. 2007: e-memorandum, snap election, Gül becomes president. 2008-2010: Ergenekon and Balyoz cases, Mavi Marmara (2010), September 12, 2010 constitutional referendum. 2011-2018: 2011 election peak for AKP, Arab Spring, Syrian civil war, and refugee influx. Gezi protests in May 2013, corruption investigations in December 2013, and the rupture between the AKP and the Gülen movement. Solution Process in March 2013. In August 2014, Erdoğan becomes president by popular vote, and Davutoğlu becomes prime minister. In the June 2015 election, the AKP loses its majority; Suruç bombing and collapse of the process in July, Ankara train station attack in October, and snap election in November. The coup attempt on July 15, 2016, fails; state of emergency. The April 16, 2017, referendum introduces the Presidential government system; the system takes effect with the June 24, 2018, election; currency crisis in August 2018. 2019-2024: In March-June 2019, Ekrem İmamoğlu (Istanbul) and Mansur Yavaş (Ankara) win mayoralties for the CHP. Pandemic in 2020; currency crisis in 2021 and withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention; inflation hits 85 percent in 2022. The Kahramanmaraş earthquakes on February 6, 2023, claim around fifty thousand lives. In May 2023, Erdoğan defeats Kılıçdaroğlu in the second round; Özgür Özel becomes CHP chairman in November. The CHP becomes the leading party in the March 2024 local elections. In October 2024, at Bahçeli's call, the PKK process is reopened. The Assad regime falls in December 2024. 2025-October 1, 2026: İmamoğlu is arrested in March 2025, leading to mass protests. Öcalan calls for laying down arms in February 2025; the PKK announces its dissolution in May 2025, and a weapons-burning ceremony takes place in July. A trustee is appointed to the CHP Istanbul provincial presidency in September 2025; the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality trial begins with hundreds of defendants. On May 21, 2026, the court declares the CHP congress null and void; Özel and his administration are removed, and Kılıçdaroğlu returns to office; the stock market drops sharply. On August 11, 2026, Parliament adopts the first law of the 'Terror-Free Turkey' process (Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration). Annual inflation is 31.5 percent in August 2026; İmamoğlu continues to be tried in Silivri; the game ends on October 1, 2026. WORLD LEADERS. Major state leaders on the map at the start of the game: Carter and Reagan (campaigning for election) (USA), Brezhnev (USSR), Thatcher (UK), Giscard d'Estaing (France), Schmidt (West Germany), Honecker (East Germany), Cossiga (Italy), Suárez (Spain), Rallis and Papandreou (Greece), Zhivkov (Bulgaria), Ceaușescu (Romania), Gierek (Poland), Mijatović (Yugoslavia), Khomeini (Iran), Saddam Hussein (Iraq), Hafez al-Assad (Syria), Begin (Israel), Sadat (Egypt), King Khalid (Saudi Arabia), Gaddafi (Libya), Zia-ul-Haq (Pakistan), Indira Gandhi (India), Deng Xiaoping (China), Ohira (Japan), Karmal (Afghanistan), Kyprianou and Denktaş in Cyprus, NATO Secretary General Luns and Supreme Allied Commander Rogers, Pope John Paul II. These leaders die, lose elections, are toppled, or pass the baton to the next generation according to the historical calendar. LEADER SUCCESSION TABLE (default; unless the player intervenes, the game proceeds in this order; the successor enters the game on the same day, and the character who dies or leaves office is removed from the game). Presidents of Turkey: Evren (1982-1989), Özal (1989-1993), Demirel (1993-2000), Sezer (2000-2007), Gül (2007-2014), Erdoğan (2014-). Prime ministers of Turkey: Demirel, Ulusu (September 1980-1983), Özal (1983-1989), Akbulut (1989-1991), Yılmaz (1991), Demirel (1991-1993), Çiller (1993-1996), Yılmaz (1996), Erbakan (1996-1997), Yılmaz (1997-1999), Ecevit (1999-2002), Gül (2002-2003), Erdoğan (2003-2014), Davutoğlu (2014-2016), Yıldırım (2016-2018); the office of prime minister is abolished after 2018. USA: Carter, Reagan (1981), G.H.W. Bush (1989), Clinton (1993), G.W. Bush (2001), Obama (2009), Trump (2017), Biden (2021), Trump (2025). USSR and Russia: Brezhnev (dies in Nov 1982), Andropov (dies in Feb 1984), Chernenko (dies in Mar 1985), Gorbachev (1985-1991), Yeltsin (Russia, 1991-1999), Putin (since 1999). United Kingdom: Thatcher (1979-1990), Major, Blair (1997), Brown (2007), Cameron (2010), May (2016), Johnson (2019), Truss and Sunak (2022), Starmer (2024). France: Giscard d'Estaing, Mitterrand (1981), Chirac (1995), Sarkozy (2007), Hollande (2012), Macron (2017). Germany: Schmidt, Kohl (1982), Schröder (1998), Merkel (2005), Scholz (2021), Merz (2025). East Germany: Honecker, Krenz (1989), reunification (1990). Greece: Rallis, Papandreou (1981), Mitsotakis (1990), Papandreou (1993), Simitis (1996), Karamanlis (2004), Papandreou (2009), Samaras (2012), Tsipras (2015), Mitsotakis (2019). Spain: Suárez, Calvo-Sotelo (1981), González (1982), Aznar (1996), Zapatero (2004), Rajoy (2011), Sánchez (2018). Eastern Bloc: Gierek in Poland, Kania (1980), Jaruzelski (1981), Wałęsa as president (1990); Husák in Czechoslovakia, Jakeš (1987), Havel (1989); Zhivkov in Bulgaria (until 1989); Ceaușescu in Romania (overthrown and executed in Dec 1989), Iliescu; Hoxha in Albania (dies in 1985), Alia; Kádár in Hungary (until 1988); collective presidency in Yugoslavia and its dissolution in 1991-92. Middle East: Khomeini in Iran (dies in 1989), Khamenei; Saddam in Iraq (until 2003); Hafez al-Assad in Syria (dies in 2000), Bashar al-Assad (until Dec 2024), followed by Ahmed al-Shara; Begin in Israel, Shamir (1983), Peres, Rabin, Netanyahu (1996) and thereafter; Sadat in Egypt (assassinated in Oct 1981), Mubarak (until 2011); Khalid in Saudi Arabia (dies in 1982), Fahd, Abdullah (2005), Salman (2015); Gaddafi in Libya (until 2011); Kyprianou in Cyprus (until 1988), Denktaş (TRNC, 1983-2005). Asia: Deng in China, Jiang Zemin (1989), Hu Jintao (2002), Xi Jinping (2012); Indira Gandhi in India (assassinated in 1984), Rajiv Gandhi, ... Modi (2014); Zia in Pakistan (dies in 1988), Benazir Bhutto (1988) and thereafter; Ohira in Japan (dies in June 1980), Suzuki, Nakasone (1982); Pope: John Paul II (until 2005), Benedict XVI, Francis (2013). COUNTRY CHANGES (country names on map cells change according to the historical calendar; new countries are available in the country list at the start of the game but are not visible on the map until they are established, at which point cells switch to the new value). Cyprus: northern cell is the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus in 1980, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) after November 15, 1983; southern cell is the Republic of Cyprus. Dissolution of the Soviet Union (Sept-Dec 1991): Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania declare independence in Sept 1991; Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan become independent states; the Soviet Union formally ends on Dec 26, 1991, and Russian cells (Russia, Karelia, Murmansk, Komi, Arkhangelsk, Sakha, Primorsky, and other Russian oblasts and krais) become the Russian Federation. Czechoslovakia: Splits into Czechia and Slovakia on Jan 1, 1993. Yugoslavia: Slovenia and Croatia declare independence in 1991, Macedonia in 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992; Serbia and Montenegro continue under the name Yugoslavia (Montenegro separates in 2006); Kosovo declares independence in 2008. Germany: Reunites on Oct 3, 1990. The Warsaw Pact dissolves on July 1, 1991. EVENT POOL (random and conditional events for diversity; each event type does not repeat until its cooldown period has expired). POLITICAL: cost of living rallies, opposition boycotts, appeals to the Constitutional Court, early election debates, coalition negotiations, motions of no confidence, party congresses and leadership races, ministerial resignations, corruption allegations, local elections. ECONOMY: shortages and queues, exchange rate and currency volatility, waves of strikes, banking crises, privatization, foreign investment, IMF negotiations, export records, agricultural subsidy debates, mining and industrial accidents. SOCIAL: university occupations, migration and urbanization, NGO campaigns, press censorship, attacks on journalists, cultural festivals, bans on theater and cinema, new technology (color television, computers, mobile phones, internet). SECURITY: street clashes, assassination attempts, prison riots, border incidents, arms smuggling, terrorist attacks, hostage crises. DIPLOMACY AND WORLD: NATO summits, crises involving Greece or Cyprus, tensions at the Soviet border, human rights reactions from Western Europe, migration waves from Middle Eastern conflicts, oil price shocks, EU (EEC) negotiation agendas. NATURAL EVENTS: Erzincan earthquake (1992), Marmara earthquake (1999), Van earthquake (2011), Elazığ and İzmir earthquakes (2020), Kahramanmaraş earthquakes (2023), floods, forest fires, winter snowstorms, drought. SPORTS AND CULTURE: national team matches, Naim Süleymanoğlu's Olympic achievements (1988, 1992, 1996), Güneş's European Cup successes, Galatasaray's UEFA Cup (2000), 2002 World Cup third place, Orhan Pamuk's Nobel Prize (2006), Aziz Sancar's Nobel Prize (2015), Eurovision, film festival awards. For the sake of variety, the game selects events from this pool in every era; no three events of the same type will occur in succession, and political, economic, social, security, diplomatic, natural, and cultural events balance each other out over time, giving each era its own unique flavor and agenda.