Editorial note: On November 26, 2021, after this review was submitted for publication, Metin Gürcan was arrested. Gürcan was a founding member of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), which was launched in 2020. He was charged with espionage, which some have argued is a part of systematic campaign by the Turkish government to intimidate members of the opposition.1

Since the dawn of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the military has been the “de facto player” in domestic politics. In 1960, 1971, 1980, and 1997 military elites concerned with the country's fate under civilian leadership pressured elected governments—by force of arms or the threat of force—to step down from public office and hand stewardship to the Turkish Armed Forces. So traumatic and defining were each of these coups d'etat, it would be impossible to understand the history of the modern republic without appreciating the Turkish Armed Forces...

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