The Coup, the Pandemic, and Turkey's Civilian Control over the Military

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has developed an unlikely but pragmatic ally in expanding his hold on state power: the armed forces. This article shows how Erdoğan fundamentally restructured and curbed the military's power after the failed coup attempt of 2016. These reforms divided the army, empowered the police-like gendarmerie, and placed civilian authorities squarely in control of both. The study analyzes the use of the gendarmerie inside Turkey, and the army outside, as the government battled the Covid-19 outbreak and tried to assist foreign countries in their fights against the pandemic. This use of hard power bolstered the government's soft power, strengthening the Erdoğan regime. The case demonstrates the effectiveness of Turkey's new civil-military relations and indicates that we should expect to see the state continue to leverage its military capacity to solve problems at home and abroad.