1980 Turkish coup d'état

National Security Council

• Turkish Armed Forces

The 1980 Turkish coup d'état (Turkish: 12 Eylül darbesi, lit.'September 12 coup d'état'), headed by Chief of the General StaffGeneral Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by memorandum.

During the Cold War era, Turkey saw political violence (1976–1980) between the far-left, the far-right (Grey Wolves), the Islamist militant groups, and the state. The violence saw a sharp downturn for a period after the coup, which was welcomed by some for restoring order by quickly executing 50 people and arresting 500,000, of which hundreds would die in prison.

For the next three years the Turkish Armed Forces ruled the country through the National Security Council, before democracy was restored with the 1983 Turkish general election. This period saw an intensification of the Turkish nationalism of the state, including banning the Kurdish language. The 1983 elections was won by center-right/liberal Motherland Party led by Turgut Özal, who himself was half-Kurdish and led Turkey until his death in 1993. Turkey partially returned to democracy in 1983 and fully in 1989. The Kurdish language ban was lifted in 1991.