The e-memorandum ( tr, e-muhtıra) was a controversial set of statements released on the website of the

General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces , image = , image_size = 160px , caption = Emblem of the General Staff , dates = 3 May 1920 – present , country = , allegiance ...

in April 2007 that weighed in on the Turkish presidential elections in 2007. The way the statements were written caused concerns that the Turkish military would intervene in the election against leading candidate

Abdullah Gül Abdullah Gül (; ; born 29 October 1950) is a Turkish politician who served as the 11th President of Turkey, in office from 2007 to 2014. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003, and concurrently served as bo ...

in defence of

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

. Turkey's presidential office is regarded as the guardian of the country's secular system; the fact that Gül's wife wore an Islamic headscarf, as well as Gül's own history in political Islam, turned the elections into a political crisis.

Statement

During the crisis, on 27 April 2007, statements were published on

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...

official website regarding the Turkish presidential elections. One statement read: The ''e-memorandum'' term was coined by Ural Akbulut to describe the General Staff statement because it was published exclusively online.

Response from the 59th Government

In response to these statements, government spokesman Cemil Çiçek made a speech. He said that the 59th government was sensitive about the secular, democratic, social, and lawful state. Çiçek added that the statements by the Army were considered as against the 59th government.

International reaction to the e-memorandum

* – The European Union has warned Turkey's military not to interfere in politics. EU Enlargement Commissioner

Olli Rehn Olli Ilmari Rehn (; born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish economist and public official who has been serving as governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018. A member of the Centre Party, he previously served as the European Commissioner for Enlargem ...

said:

"This is a clear test case whether the Turkish armed forces respect democratic secularization and democratic values... The timing is rather surprising and strange. It's important that the military respects also the rules of the democratic game and its own role in that democratic game."

* – The U.S. was also interested in this issue. Dan Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said: "We don't take sides." However, while answering a question that whether US supported EU's approach Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "The United States fully supports Turkish democracy and its constitutional processes, and that means that the election, the electoral system... have to be upheld. Yes. The answer is yes, the U.S. would be in a similar position", supporting EU's approach.

Aftermath

was not elected as the President on the first voting, since the election was almost entirely boycotted by opposition MPs, and a general election was called. In the elections, AKP gained 341 seats and the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has bee ...

(MHP) gained 71 seats. Since MHP did not boycott the election, at least 367 members were present, and Abdullah Gül was elected as the President with AKP's support.

Yaşar Büyükanıt General Mehmet Yaşar Büyükanıt (1 September 1940 – 21 November 2019) was the 25th Chief of the Turkish General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, from 28 August 2006 to 28 August 2008. Biography General Yaşar Büyükanıt was born in Ist ...

, then Chief of the Turkish General Staff, said that it was him who had written the statement, but he denied that it was a

memorandum A memorandum ( : memoranda; abbr: memo; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered") is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and ...

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (born Kemal Karabulut, 17 December 1948) is a Turkish economist, retired civil servant and social democratic politician. He is leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and has been Leader of the Main Opposition in ...

, the leader of the opposition party CHP since 2010, has said that CHP would file a criminal complaint against Büyükanıt for his alleged involvement of the military in democratic elections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:E-Memorandum 2007 in Turkey Politics of Turkey 2000s coups d'état and coup attempts 2007 in Turkish politics Alleged coup attempts in Turkey

Statement

Response from the 59th Government

International reaction to the e-memorandum

Aftermath

See also

References