SUMMARY
Yurtta Sulh Konseyi (Peace at Home Council) was a faction within the Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri (TSK, TAF, or Turkish Armed Forces) that fought an intrastate armed conflict over government power against the Government of Turkey. The name was derived from a well-known saying of the founder of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Atatürk - “Peace at home, peace in the world” - which echoed the strategic rhetoric adapted by previous coup plotters in the country to increase their support base.
On 15 July 2016, a group of TAF members tried to take over the Turkish government. After capturing the news studios of the national public broadcaster TRT, they announced that they had seized control of state institutions.
During the night of July 15-16, clashes emerged between the forces of Yurtta Sulh Konseyi and the security forces loyal to the government. Meanwhile, protests against the coup attempt were organized throughout the country. More than 180 demonstrators were killed by the coup plotters and the verified death toll was nearly 300 in total. Many government buildings, including the Parliament and Presidential Palace, were damaged. On the morning of July 16, it was clear that the Yurtta Sulh Konseyi was defeated.
According to some analysts, the origins of the failed coup attempt could be traced back to 2007 when a judicial investigation called Ergenekon –the name of a legend in the Turkic mythology- was initiated. Many TAF personnel and politicians were accused of establishing a terrorist organization named Ergenekon and planning a coup against the ruling Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP or Justice and Development Party). Three years later, in 2010, another investigation began and more than 300 military officials were accused of participating in a coup plan called Balyoz (Sledgehammer). In total, over 600 suspects were found guilty in both of those judicial cases in 2012 and 2013. However, during both of these cases, many pointed to irregularities among the evidence provided by the public prosecutors. As some of those charged were known representatives of the more “secular” wing of TAF, opposition figures claimed that several of the prosecutors were close to an Islamist movement led by Fethullah Gulen, suggesting that the evidence provided by them was fabricated by members of that movement. Meanwhile, some analysts pointed out the increasing power of the Gulenist movement within the military. Some indicated that many newly-vacant positions were filled by the alleged Gulenists.
Despite being a long-standing ally of the AKP, the Gulenist movement’s influence over certain political and economic decisions eventually started to worry AKP officials and a power struggle between the ruling party and the movement broke out in December 2013. By the end of 2013, the AKP government had started to put up certain barriers to members of the Gulenist movement in both the economic and bureaucratic spheres. Tensions reached its peak in December 2013, when some AKP officials and people close to the ruling elite were accused of corruption. The government claimed that the Gulenists within the judiciary were behind these allegations. From that month onwards, the struggle between the Gulenist movement and the AKP became much visible in the public arena.
In the meantime, the Ergenekon and Balyoz cases were in the appeal period. The Turkish constitutional court pointed out the violation of the rights of Ergenekon suspects in March 2014 and in April 2015, all Balyoz suspects were acquitted. In the investigations after the coup attempt of Yurtta Sulh Konseyi, it was indicated that some of the public prosecutors in these judicial cases were indeed members of the Gulenist movement, and the authenticity of certain pieces of evidence presented by them were publicly rejected.
From December 2013 to July 2016, the Gulenist movement had lost a significant amount of power within the Turkish business circles, as well as within the bureaucracy and judiciary. Many alleged Gulenists were also discharged from the police force. Before the coup attempt in July 2016, rumors circulated that the Supreme Military Council of Turkey at its August meeting would decide to discharge hundreds of Gulenist officers from the armed forces. Some scholars argue that the July 15 coup attempt was the movement’s response to those rumors.
Shortly after the failure of the coup attempt, Fethullah Gulen denied that his movement had been involved in the coup. Meanwhile, the movement was designated as a terrorist organization by the Turkish government and it was announced that Yurtta Sulh Konseyi had been formed by the members of Fethullahçı Terör Örgütü (Fethullahist Terrorist Organization or FETÖ), which was another name given by the government, referring to the movement led by Fethullah Gulen. One of the pieces of evidence that were presented as a link between the Gulenists and the Yurtta Sulh Konseyi forces was footages of five civilians in the Akinci Air Base, which was the headquarter of the coup plotters during the night of July 15. Those five civilians were known to be high-ranking members of the Gulenist movement who allegedly had visited Fethullah Gulen in his mansion in Pennsylvania, USA several times. It was also claimed that some of them visited him just a few days before the coup attempt. A visit in January 2016 by one of them was verified by the US Department of Homeland Security in September 2017.
Some security analysts noted that the members of the Yurtta Sulh Konseyi did not have a uniting ideology, but rather a range of different motives. While some were argued to have participated in the coup attempt simply because of their anti-government sentiments, others were believed to have taken part for more pragmatic reasons, having been promised a quick promotion if the coup was to succeed. It was suggested that the Gulenist officers were the most powerful and best-prepared ones. It was also claimed that they played the leading role. Yet others joined the coup attempt due to the military culture, which compelled them to obey the orders of their commanders, whereas some Yurtta Sulh Konseyi members were allegedly forced to join through threats and blackmail by the Gulenist movement.
After July 15, nearly 7500 TAF personnel were discharged and around 16000 military school students were dismissed in Turkey. Out of 348 TAF generals/admirals, 151 were among the discharged high-ranked personnel who either actively participated in the coup attempt or adopted a “wait-and-see” strategy.
It was claimed that Yurtta Sulh Konseyi was financed by the United Arab Emirates. Nevertheless, this information was not verified.
