A day before the coup
Tension and mutual accusations prevailed over the days immediately before the coup d’état of May 27, 1960. In a speech he delivered in Eskişehir on May 25th, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes spoke of a possible military coup against the government and stressed that the right thing to do was to go to election:
Unfortunately, rather serious incidents have been occurring in the country over the past month. The meaning of all this is to try and see if power can be seized by way of force. We believe in the wisdom of the nation and the valor of democracy… The Turkish nation is loyal to democracy and the Democrat Party. Our way is the way to election. Everyone should know that there is no other possible way to come to power, except through election.
On May 26th, CHP President İnönü responded to the speech as follows:
As deliberated many times at the Grand National Assembly, we believe that the only way to remedy the current situation is to hold a free, equal, and honest election… If they are seriously considering that kind of an election, the nation can easily be convinced of change. The creation of free election conditions is a matter of a simple change in law, an hour of good will, and a single session for the Grand National Assembly… Once these conditions are fulfilled, they will be amazed to see the peace and harmony that will settle over the country within a week.
Unfortunately, before both parties were able to bring to life this mutual demand for election, the military took over the government on May 27th.
