Erdo-gone?: Turkish Coup Attempt, 2016

Approximate Committee Size: 15 double delegations

On July 15, 2016, military jets screamed over Ankara, tanks rolled onto the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, and soldiers seized the state broadcaster TRT, forcing an anchor at gunpoint to read a statement declaring that the Turkish Armed Forces had taken control of the government. Within minutes, it became clear that a faction of the military had launched a coordinated coup attempt against the democratically elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Erdoğan government would later attribute the plot to FETÖ — a network of followers loyal to US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen that had spent years embedding itself across Turkish state institutions. Bridges were blocked, the Parliament building was bombed in what remains a disputed account, and loyalist and coup-aligned military units clashed in the streets of Turkey's two largest cities.

Yet the coup was neither clean nor swift. Erdoğan, vacationing in Marmaris, escaped capture by a narrow margin and reached Istanbul's Atatürk Airport in the early hours of July 16. Broadcast via FaceTime on CNN Türk, he called on Turkish citizens to take to the streets in defense of democracy, which they did in extraordinary numbers. By morning, the coup had collapsed. However, in the hours between its beginning and its failure, Turkey's government was fractured, its chain of command uncertain, and the loyalties of varying officials across the country deeply unclear.

This committee convenes an emergency session of a reconstructed Turkish cabinet on the night of July 15 as the coup unfolds in real time. Delegates will represent a broad cross-section of Turkish political and institutional life, from AKP ministers and Erdoğan loyalists to secular nationalist voices, military advisors of uncertain allegiance, and figures skeptical of the government's growing authoritarianism. Not every delegate will agree on what is happening; some will prioritize the restoration of democratic order, while others will see an opportunity to reshape Turkey’s political trajectory. All of them must act under conditions of extreme uncertainty, with the fate of the Turkish state hanging in the balance.

CHAIR: Cindy Lin

ISSUES TO CONSIDER

Issue 1: Establishing Authority: With coup-aligned and loyalist military units in open conflict and the President communicating via FaceTime, the question of who holds legitimate authority over Turkey’s armed forces is far from settled. How should the emergency cabinet coordinate a response, assert control over military and police units, and communicate a coherent chain of command to a country watching events unfold live on television?

Issue 2: Civil Liberties: Even as the coup collapses, the government begins moving toward sweeping emergency measures, including mass arrests, suspension of judicial protections, and broad purges across sectors. Delegates must debate how far these measures should extend. Where is the line between legitimate security responses and the exploitation of a crisis to consolidate authoritarian power?

Issue 3: The Gülan Question: The Erdoğan government moves quickly to blame Fethullah Gülen and demand his extradition from the United States. This claim is greeted with skepticism at best in the US, with critics citing a lack of evidence. Delegates must wrestle with the politics of attribution: how certain are they of Gülen’s culpability, what evidence exists, and how should Turkey navigate the diplomatic fallout of a demand the US is unlikely to honor? Who benefits from a particular narrative of the coup, and does that narrative hold up to scrutiny?