Role of Press in the Production of Public Consent for Military Coups in Turkey: Comparative Analysis of 27 May 1960 and 15 July 2016

The media is one of the most important actors of the preparation, execution and justification of military coups in Turkey along with the judiciary and the academy. 27 May 1960 military coup is the first military coup in the history of the Turkish Republic, while the July 15th, 2016 failed coup attempt is the last. In this study, the process of generating public consent for both coups in the media are examined especially through the "dictatorship", "authoritarianism", "corruption", "suppression of freedom of thought and speech" concepts. Utilizing the theoretical frameworks of Antonio Gramsci's "hegemony" and Louis Althusser's "ideological state apparatuses", the article first discusses the relationship between the media's attitude in the process leading to military coups and hegemony in Turkey. Then, it analyzes how public consent is generated by utilizing "public scenario model" and Herbert Schiller's and Noam Chomsky's insights on media manipulation. The study argues that the mainstream media, knowingly or unknowingly, has been part of the process of manufacturing public consent for the military coup against the civilian and democratic government before the July 15, 2016 failed coup, similar to the process leading up to the May 27, 1960 coup d'etat.