The Military coup in Turkey, 1960 was a coup d'etat staged by a group of radical officers in their mid-forties and in the ranks of colonel and below of the Turkish Armed Forces against the 19th government of the Democratic Party on May 27, 1960. The post-coup head of the military unit was General Cemal Gürsel by invitation upon completion of the military take-over. The military junta returned the power to civilians 17 months later in October 1961 by General Gursel who resisted against military rule.