Kenan Evren

Kenan Evren (1988)

Ahmet Kenan Evren (born July 17, 1917 in Alaşehir ; † May 9, 2015 in Ankara ) was a Turkish general and from September 12, 1980 to November 9, 1989 7th President of the Turkish Republic . He came into office through the military coup of 1980 . He was sentenced to life imprisonment for his leading role in 2014.

Military career

He began his officer training in 1936 at the Maltepe Askeri Lisesi İstanbul . In 1958/59 he served in South Korea in the Turkish Brigade , which was stationed there after the Korean War . In 1963 he was promoted to brigadier general. On March 7, 1978 Evren became Chief of Staff .

Presidency

Coup

Kenan Evren (with white hair in the middle) during the state visit to Romania in April 1982

On September 12, 1980 Evren led with the commanders Nusrettin Ersin , Tahsin Şahinkaya , Nejat Tümer and Sedat Celasun a military coup against the Demirel government . Martial law was declared and a military government led by Evren was established . After the new constitution presented by the military was approved by referendum on November 7, 1982, Evren was confirmed as president for another seven years when it came into force two days later. His term of office ended on November 9, 1989.

Human rights violations

General Evren was accused of massive human rights violations by numerous civil rights activists during his military regime. Hundreds of politicians were imprisoned or house arrested between 1980 and 1983, thousands of critics of the regime tortured and hundreds of suspected enemies of the state executed.

The National Security Council stated on October 28, 1980 that around 11,500 people had been arrested since the coup. The regime carried out 50 executions in the wake of the coup.

During his reign various laws were introduced which forbade the Kurdish language in many areas of public and private life. Furthermore, Evren denied the existence of Kurds in Turkey. He called the Kurds Mountain Turks .

Condemnation

Numerous civil rights activists in Turkey have called for Evren to be tried for the coup and the human rights violations committed by his regime. This was not possible until September 2010, as the constitution enacted by the coup plotters forbade any proceedings against them. In 2007, the Turkish judiciary investigated Evren on suspicion of separatist propaganda. However, this proceeding has been discontinued.

As a result of the reform of the Turkish constitution, adopted by referendum on September 12, 2010, Evren and other parties involved in the 1980 coup lost their previous immunity. A few days after the referendum, some citizens' groups, political parties and human rights activists announced that they would bring Evren to justice.

On April 4, 2012, the trial of the overthrow of the constitutional order began. In addition to Evren, the then air force chief Tahsin Şahinkaya was also indicted. Co-plaintiffs were victims' associations as well as the government and the national assembly . In June 2014 Evren and Şahinkaya were sentenced to life imprisonment, which Evren did not have to serve due to his old age and illness.

Web links

Commons : Kenan Evren  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Biography at cankaya.gov.tr (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ H. Akin Ünver: Turkey`s Kurdish Question . Routledge, London 2015, ISBN 978-1-138-57798-5 , pp. 121 .
2. ↑ Steffen Wurzel : Clear vote in referendum: Turks vote for Erdogan's constitutional reform . ( Memento from September 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Tagesschau.de , September 12, 2010; accessed on May 10, 2015.
3. ↑ Michael Martens : Constitutional Reform in Turkey: The World of General Evren . ( Memento from December 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , September 15, 2010; accessed on May 10, 2015.
4. ↑ Historical process: Trial against Turkish ex-head of state Evren begins . Spiegel Online , April 4, 2012; Retrieved April 4, 2012.
5. ^ Judgment in Turkey: Life imprisonment for ex-President Evren . Spiegel Online , June 18, 2014; Retrieved April 22, 2015.