Bearing the Brunt of Legitimacy and Power Challenges: The Turkish Armed Forces' Fall from Grace, 1997-2018

Abstract

In this paper, we present an analytical narrative of the events that culminated in the Turkish Armed Forces' (the TAF) fall from grace between 1997 and 2018. The narrative is guided by a conceptual framework that features organizational legitimacy and power as key to strategizing by societal constituencies. Based on this framework, we describe how the Turkish government consecutively raised legitimacy and power challenges to the TAF, underscoring adaptation of the Turkish government's strategy to the emergent outcomes. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the usefulness of our framework for an enhanced understanding of civilian control over the military.