THE INFLUENCE OF THE MEDIA ON THE FEBRUARY 28 POSTMODERN COUP

Abstract

Turkish politics have faced coups throughout history, and all of them have left heavy traces on
society. The thought that governments could not manage the social structure and economy well led
to the military seizing the government. These coups have also revealed socio-economic problems in
the society. Each coup has done different damage to the society. All coups are implemented
differently from each other.
The factor that distinguishes the February 28 intervention, which is described as a “postmodern
coup” from other coups, is that the military intervened in the government through the media without
using an armed force. During this period, the government was forced to resign due to the
resignation calls of soldiers and media bosses. The process leading up to the coup started months
ago with the media and continued after February 28.
With the decisions taken at the National Security Council meeting on February 28, 1997, the
'postmodern coup' took place. The decisions taken here have affected the lives of many people. The
freedom of education of women wearing headscarves and the freedom of work of soldiers working
in the army were taken away. Everyone who contradicted the decisions taken at the National
Security Council meeting faced different practices. Apart from this, there were also problems in the
economic field, some of the capital owners were marginalized, and they were treated differently on
the grounds that it was against the country's interests.
Media is a powerful field that transfers all kinds of information to societies. The media, which
informs and guides with its strong influence on society, was also used as an important effect tool
during the 28 February process. In this process, the society was divided into two as ideas with
media discourses.
In this research, the relationship between media and politics, postmodern coup process, MGK
decision (National Security Council Meeting) are emphasized. Content analysis technique was used
in the research. In the research, publications such as journals, articles, theses, etc. were taken as a
source, and newspaper headlines (right media headlines and left media headlines) were examined.