55s incident

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The 55s incident, also called the Sivas Camp, happened after Turkey’s 27 May 1960 coup. The National Unity Committee accused the ruling DP party of trying to set up a government in Kurdistan. On May 31, 1960, it was reported that documents found in the Cumhuriyet newspaper and propaganda trips by Sheikh Said’s son showed Kurdish East-region activity during the DP era. Four days after the coup, 485 aghas and sheikhs from the East and Southeast were sent to a camp in Sivas (Kabak Yazi). It was claimed that Cemal Gürsel suggested deporting 2500 prominent Kurds.

The Sivas camp was closed by the Compulsory Settlement Law No. 105 on October 19, 1960, and the 55 aghas were deported to Antalya, Isparta, İzmir, Afyon, Manisa, Denizli and Çorum by the National Unity Committee, which said they supported the DP. The law was repealed in 1962.

Meanwhile, the Kurdish national liberation movement led by Mustafa Barzani in northeastern Iraq influenced organizing in parts of Turkey, including Hakkari, Van, Siirt, Mardin, Diyarbakır, Muş and Şırnak.

Barzani was widely seen as a landlord, sheikh and tribal chief.

In 1961, some changes were made to the constitution. The line “Sovereignty unconditionally belongs to the nation,” from the 1924 Constitution, was changed to “Sovereignty unconditionally belongs to the Turkish nation.”