Darbe

Darbe is a Turkish noun that broadly means a blow or strike, but in political contexts it is used to denote a coup d'état—a sudden, often illegal attempt to seize power and replace or overthrow a government. The term derives from Persian and entered Ottoman Turkish with the sense of a forceful impact, which later broadened to include abrupt political change.

In modern Turkish discourse, darbe typically refers to military interventions, though it can apply to other groups attempting to seize control. It covers both overt military coups and more indirect interventions that circumvent normal constitutional procedures, sometimes described as “soft” or “post-modern” coups. The word carries strong historical and emotional weight in Turkey due to a series of notable episodes.

Notable examples in Turkish history include:

- 1960 coup d’état, which toppled the government of Adnan Menderes and led to his execution in 1961, followed by a new constitutional framework.

- 1971, when the military delivered a memorandum that forced the resignation of the government, an event often cited as a coup by memorandum.

- 1980 coup, which resulted in widespread dissolution of parliament, political bans, and a new constitution enacted in 1982.

- The 1997 “post-modern coup,” in which the military pressured the coalition government and mainstream political actors, leading to significant policy shifts without a formal takeover.

- The 2016 attempted coup, a failed operation by factions within the Turkish Armed Forces that led to purges, arrests, and a prolonged state of emergency.

Today, darbe remains a central term in Turkish political vocabulary, used to describe both historical upheavals and contemporary debates about state power, legitimacy, and civilian control of the military. The related term darbe girişimi refers specifically to a coup attempt.