Military Coups and Fragile Democracies

Military Coups and Fragile Democracies: The July 15th Coup Attempt of 2016 and Authoritarian Consolidation in Türkiye examines the controversial coup attempt and how its aftermath transformed the country’s fragile democracy. Placing July 15 within Türkiye’s history of military interventions and broader patterns of democratic decline, Military Coups and Fragile Democracies critically analyzes the coup’s planning and execution, competing narratives about its perpetrators, the government’s response, and unresolved questions surrounding the events. Drawing on official documents, court records, media analysis, and extensive interviews with former military officers, police chiefs, prosecutors, political figures, journalists, diplomats, and other witnesses; Mahmut Cengiz and Mitchel P. Roth assess official accounts with various explanations. The book then traces how the failed coup became a catalyst for sweeping purges, emergency rule, institutional restructuring, and the concentration of executive power under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Examining changes in the military, judiciary, law enforcement, media, and political system, Military Coups and Fragile Democracies demonstrates how crises, whether genuine or manipulated can provide opportunities for authoritarian consolidation. Türkiye’s experience ultimately offers broader lessons about the vulnerability of fragile democracies and the erosion of institutional independence.