Headquarters of the Turkish General Staff. The primary entrance remained blocked by police vehicles during investigations after the failed coup.
With permits from the President's Communication Office, I examined the holdings of the General Staff College (GSC) Library in Istanbul and the National and Military Academy libraries in Ankara. I also investigated the collections at the Center for Military History and Strategic Analysis (ATASE) archives. Some catalogs and albums collating demographic and professional information about the GSC attendees at the GSC library laid the basis for my dissertation project. I also found additional booklets and yearbooks in second-hand bookstores in Istanbul and Ankara. This material helped me to construct a complete dataset of ethnic and social backgrounds and career paths of all General Staff Officers and Generals since the creation of the modern Turkish army and its officer corps in the 1840s.
I also discovered albums published by the Bursa Isiklar Military Preparatory School Press, compiling information about alumni since the late Ottoman period, including geographical origins of cadets, their current professions, military branches, as well as the highest rank and office they achieved.
I also conducted 102 interviews with retired army officers, military scholars, journalists, and politicians from 2017 to 2021.
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