Kenan Evren

His Excellency Kenan Evren
7th President of Turkey
In office 12 September 1980 – 9 November 1989
Prime Minister	Bülend Ulusu Turgut Özal
Preceded by	Fahri Korutürk
Succeeded by	Turgut Özal
Chief of the General Staff of Turkey
In office 7 March 1978 – 1 July 1983
Preceded by	Semih Sancar
Succeeded by	Nurettin Ersin
Commander of the Turkish Army
In office 5 September 1977 – 6 March 1978
Preceded by	Semih Sancar
Succeeded by	Nurettin Ersin
Personal details
Born	17 July 1917 Alaşehir, Ottoman Empire
Died	9 May 2015 (aged 97) Ankara, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Spouse(s)	Sekine Evren (m. 1944–1982; her death)
Children	3
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Turkey
Service/branch	Turkish Army
Years of service	1938–1983
Rank	General

Ahmet Kenan Evren (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈce.nɑn ˈev.ɾen]; 17 July 1917 – 9 May 2015) was a Turkish military officer who was the seventh President of Turkey from 1980 to 1989. He assumed the post by leading the 1980 military coup.

On 18 June 2014, a Turkish court sentenced him to life imprisonment and demotion of his military rank down to private, from army general, for leading the military coup in 1980, obstructing democracy by deposing the prime minister Suleyman Demirel, abolishing the parliament and the senate and abolishing the constitution. This sentence was on appeal at the time of his death.^[1]

Evren died at a military hospital in Ankara on 9 May 2015, aged 97.^[2]

Biography

Kenan Evren was born in Alaşehir, Manisa Province.^[3] After going to elementary school and middle school in Manisa, Balıkesir and Istanbul, he attended military high school in Maltepe, Ankara. In 1938, he graduated from army school and in 1949 from military academy as a staff officer.^[3]

From 1958 to 1959, he served in the Turkish Brigade in Korea. In 1964, he was promoted to general. Evren served at various posts as Army Chief. He was the commander of Operation Gladio's Turkish branch; the Counter-Guerrilla. The Counter-Guerrilla was an anti-communist "stay-behind" guerrilla force set up with the support of NATO.^[4] He became Chief of General Staff in March 1978.^[3]

Military coup

The years leading to the coup were characterized as a fierce struggle between the rightists and leftists. Hoping to see a communist revolution, the left wingers rioted in the streets; on the other hand, the nationalist rightists fought back the left wingers and provoked religious arousal. Universities had taken sides and each became headquarters for either the leftists or rightists.

With the coup came the National Security Council as the ruling body. The council of 1980 was composed of the commanders Kenan Evren, the Chief of Staff and President of the State. The parliament was dissolved. The Central Intelligence Agency's Ankara bureau chief at the time, Paul B. Henze, received a call from the White House Situation Room saying "Paul, your guys have done it", while President Jimmy Carter was watching Fiddler on the Roof at the Kennedy Center.^[5][6]

After the coup, Kenan Evren was elected as President of Turkey on 7 November 1982 with the 90% approval of the new constitution that was submitted to a controversial referendum, replacing the older constitution which, according to him, had liberties too "luxurious" for Turkey.^[7]

Evren suspended many forms of civil liberties and human rights on the grounds that it was necessary to establish stability. He professed great admiration for the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; however, he shut down many institutions founded by Atatürk and is often accused of deforming the country's legal system against Atatürk's principles. During his military regime, many people were tortured and executed due to their political beliefs.

Evren took strong measures to ensure that the division between the political left and right would not turn into violence again; the new constitution limited the rights and depoliticized the youth.

According to a report on the Susurluk scandal of 1996, prepared by Prime Ministry Inspection Board deputy chairman Kutlu Savaş, quoted by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, "Fascists had been released from prison in return for 'finishing some jobs' under Evren's rule after 12 September 1980".^[8]

Responding to a journalist's question regarding the execution of 17-year-old Erdal Eren, he responded "Should we feed him rather than hang him?"^[9]

Post-presidency

After his retirement, he moved to the Turkish Mediterranean resort town of Armutalan, Marmaris, and took up painting.^[10]

On 2 August 2006, a reported plan for assassinating Evren was thwarted when two men were apprehended and arrested in Muğla.^[11]

A previous attempt in 1996 had already been tracked down when two members of the assassination team spoke on a cellphone eavesdropped by the police, and the Islamic call to prayer (adhan) could be heard during their conversation. Since the timing of the adhan was 4–5 minutes after Istanbul, a point slightly more to the west by that time margin was sought and the team members were caught in Marmaris itself.^[12]

In 2004, he revealed that his daughter, Şenay Gürvit, and son-in-law, Erkan Gürvit, are members of the National Intelligence Organization. His daughter presided over the reprisal operations against the militant Armenian organization ASALA.^[13]

After Bülent Ecevit's death, he expressed remorse over the arrest of political leaders after the 1980 coup,^[10] but defended the coup itself and the 35 executions.^[14]

Civilian resentment exists, and there were demands for his being called to account following the Ergenekon investigation.^[15][16]

Trial and conviction

On 10 January 2012, Turkish courts decided to press charges against General Kenan Evren and General Tahsin Şahinkaya, former Commander of the Turkish Air Force, for their role in the 1980 coup. Prosecutors sought life sentences against them.^[17] The first court hearing of the case was scheduled for 4 April 2012.^[18] Both were sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 June 2014 by a court in Ankara.^[19] In accordance with Article 30 of the Military Penal Code, Evren and Şahinkaya were demoted to the lowest rank of private.

Personal life

Funeral of Kenan Evren held on 12 May 2015

Evren married Sekine Evren in 1944 and they had three daughters, Şenay, Gülay and Miray. Sekine died in 1982.^[20]

Evren was hospitalized for massive gastrointestinal bleeding on 3 August 2009, in Yalıkavak, Bodrum, where his summer house is located.^[21] A temporary artificial pacemaker was applied to Evren while in intensive care due to bradycardia.^[22] His large intestine was removed a week later at GATA in Istanbul (Gülhane Military Medicine Academy) where he was transferred.^[23] He was discharged on 24 September 2009.

Evren died at a military hospital in Ankara on 9 May 2015, aged 97.^[2] On 12 May, he was buried in the Turkish State Cemetery in Ankara following the funeral service held at Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque. The funeral was attended by his close relatives and military personnel. In protest, political parties sent no representatives to the former president's funeral. A number of people protested during the religious service in the mosque's courtyard.^[24]

References

1. "Kenan Evren ve Tahsin Şahinkaya hakkındaki dosya 6 aydır Yargıtay'a gönderilmedi". Hürriyet. 24 Nov 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
2. "Former Turkish president Evren dies aged 97", Reuters, 9 May 2015.
3. Biography, Presidency of the Republic of Turkey
4. "NATO's Secret Armies: Chronology". Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security (PHP). ETH Zurich. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
5. Koru, Fehmi (10 January 2008). "Never miss an opportunity to show your sympathy". Today's Zaman. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2008. Jimmy Carter was in a concert at the Kennedy Center when Evren and his co-conspirators stepped in to take the reins of Turkey. President Carter was notified during the intermission about the coup by a night-duty CIA officer who happened to be an old-Turkish hand with the jubilant news: 'Our boys have done it!'
6. Karasapan, Ömer (Sep–Oct 1989). "Turkey and U.S. Strategy in the Age of Glasnost". Middle East Report. Middle East Research and Information Project. 160 (160): 4–10. doi:10.2307/3013440. JSTOR 3013440.
7. Güçlü, Abbas (25 September 2003). "61 Anayasası Türkiye'ye büyük geldi". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 July 2008.
8. 1998 Report from the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), chapter II, "SUSURLUK SCANDAL: Counter-guerilla Affairs", p.39-86 (see p.47)
9. Oran, Baskın; Evren, Kenan (1989). Kenan Evren'in yazılmamış anıları (in Turkish). Bilgi Yayınevi. p. 189. ISBN 975-494-095-9. Retrieved 5 July 2008. Şimdi ben, bunu yakaladıktan sonra mahkemeye vereceğim ve ondan sonra da idam etmeyeceğim, ömür boyu ona bakacağım. Bu vatan için kanını akıtan, bu Mehmetçiklere silah çeken o haini ben senelerce besleyeceğim. Buna siz razı olur musunuz? (3 October 1984 speech at Muş)
10. Sarıipek, Mustafa (6 November 2006). "Evren: Tutukladığım için üzgünüm". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 July 2008.
11. "Kenan Evren'e Suikast Yapacaklardı". Aktif Haber (in Turkish). 2 August 2006. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
12. "Kenan Evren'i Olumden Ezan Kurtardi". Haber Vitrini (in Turkish). 25 May 2004. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
13. "Evren: Kızım MİT'te çalışıyordu". Sabah (in Turkish). 8 September 2004. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
14. "Evren: Pişman değilim". Radikal (in Turkish). Anadolu Agency, Dogan News Agency. 3 March 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
15. "Evren de yargılansın netekim!". Taraf (in Turkish). 28 July 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
16. Timur, Şafak (12 September 2008). "Debating justice for coup generals". Turkish Daily News. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
17. BBC News Turkish ex-president Kenan Evren faces coup charge, 10 January 2012.
18. Habib Güler (2 April 2012). "Turkish gov't, parties becoming co-plaintiffs in Sept. 12 coup case". Today's Zaman. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
19. Suzan Fraser (18 June 2014). "1980 Coup Leaders Given Life Sentences in Turkey". ABC news. Associated Press. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
20. "Kenan Evren dies at 97; Turkish general led 1980 coup and became president". Washington Post. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
21. "Kenan Evren Hastaneye Kaldırıldı (Kenan Evren Hospitalized)". haberler.com quoting Ankara Haber Ajansı (in Turkish). 3 August 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
22. "Kenan Evren'e Geçici Kalp Pili Takıldı". haberler.com quoting Cihan Haber Ajansı (in Turkish). 3 August 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
23. "Kalınbağırsağı Alındı, Durumu İyi". haberler.com (in Turkish). 14 August 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
24. "No blessing' to Kenan Evren at funeral". Doğan News Agency. 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2015-05-12.

External links

• Media related to Kenan Evren at Wikimedia Commons