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Why Some Turks Miss Military Coups

A Turkish opposition politician made headlines by suggesting that a military coup might be the best way to defeat the ruling Justice and Development Party, writes Mustafa Akyol.
Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu addresses the media at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara June 28, 2011. Turkey's main opposition CHP Party said it will boycott the swearing-in ceremony in parliament to protest against a bar on elected candidates who are detained without being convicted. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR2O6ZA

Osman Aydın, a member of the Turkish Parliament and of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), was little-known figure until last week. But with a short speech he gave at a small village in his province, Aydın, he created a mid-size political scandal and made national headlines.

The scandal was that as an elected politician, Aydın saw the ideal way of defeating his party's main political rival, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, as not elections but a military coup.

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