Round-table Meetings after the 1960 Coup: Consultation or Military Tutelage?

The military that seized power in the coup of 27 May 1960 took certain measures to ensure the continuation of military tutelage. Those who carried out the May 27, 1960 coup claimed that they conducted the coup in order to protect the endangered principles and reforms of Ataturk, aiming to overcome the legitimacy crisis of the military regime. Those who brought the country to such a stalemate were the politicians and their ambitions for power. Therefore, when the Democratic Party, which was taken from the government, was closed, its representatives also began to be tried in Yassida. The result of the constitutional referendum held after the coup showed that the Democratic Party still maintained its power at the grass roots level and that its former voters and supporters opposed the military regime. Moreover, the establishment of parties that were considered successors to the Democratic Party made the political balance even more sensitive for those who carried out the coup. Considering all these parameters, Round-table meetings are an important part of the measures taken to limit the election campaigns of political parties in order not to call into question the coup and to prevent the Yassiada decisions from causing public outrage. The aim of this study is to shed light on the nature of the Round Table Meetings, which appeared to be consultative meetings between the National Unity Committee and representatives of political parties with the intention of containing politics. In this context, it is claimed that the meetings were a reflection of the imposition of military tutelage and its dominance over politics. However, the meetings failed to meet the expectations of both those who seek to maintain military tutelage and political parties. Indeed, when political conditions change, the meetings would lose their binding value in the eyes of the parties. In the study, newspapers and magazines will be important sources for meetings covered with all the details in the press of the period, along with research works.