Following its failure, some social media and Turkish opposition figures claimed the takeover attempt may have been "staged" by the government, so that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could gain more support and consolidate power.
"It is a conspiracy theory, there was a real attempt at a military coup, in which a considerable group of the armed forces took part, " Isa Gambar, who used to serve as acting president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, said.
The opposition politician also noted that the bulk of the Turkish army did not support the coup d’etat.
After democratic elections in 1950, Turkey experienced three military coups — in 1960, 1971, and 1980 — each bloodier and more repressive than the last, although a majority of the Turkish public supported the generals' actions at the time.
"Apparently, the rebel military thought in terms of the classic example of past coups and did not realize that times have changed and Turkish society is not like 20, 30 or 40 years ago," Gambar added.
After the coup, which claimed 290 lives with at least 1,400 people injured, Erdogan blamed low-ranking military officers who rebelled against their superiors. On Monday, a national court sanctioned the arrest of 41 out of the 103 detained generals and admirals suspected of plotting the insurrection with an arrest warrant being issued against the president's top military adviser Ali Yazici.
