Turkey's 1980 coup facts

Turkey's 1980 coup facts

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Hürriyet file photo

The 1980 military coup was launched “to bring peace to a polarized society where thousands of people were being killed on the streets,” according to the coup generals and their supporters.

The results, however, were devastating:






  • The Turkish Parliament was dissolved, the Constitution was revoked, all political parties were shut down and their assets were seized.
  • 650,000 people were taken into custody
  • 230,000 people were put on trial
  • 1,683,000 people were blacklisted
  • Military prosecutors demanded the death penalty for 7,000 people
  • 517 people received the death penalty  
  • 50 people were hanged
  • The military rule revoked the citizenships of more than 14,000 people
  • 388,000 citizens were denied Turkish passports
  • 30,000 people fled Turkey to seek refuge abroad
  • 299 inmates died in prisons due to "indeterminate" reasons
  • 14 inmates died in hunger strikes
  • 171 people died under torture
  • 3 journalists were killed
  • 4,000 years of prison time was requested for 400 journalists
  • 31 journalists were jailed
  • Newspapers could not print for 300 days
  • 39 tons of newspapers and periodicals were destroyed
  • 937 movies were banned from screening