Speaking on a program aired by the television station Kanal D at Mugla University, Wednesday night, Evren said, “If I were the head of the General Staff again and if those conditions occurred I would not hesitate to stage a coup”.

Evren said that at the time innocent people were being killed in the growing conflict but stressed that the army would not intervene unless it really had to. The coup of 1980 was thought over for a period of a year before being staged, he said, adding that it took another five months after the coup was mounted to gradually end the clashes.

Evren defended his move of having compulsory religious education during his period of rule. There were no nation without religion and that under communism it did not work, he said. He added that his period in office that only one religious vocational high school, known as Imam Hatip schools, was opened and another two opened in 1989. There were 33 of these schools before the military took over, Evren said.

Evren said that he had never met with religious figure Fethullah Gulen and indeed had had charges laid against him. The former President said that he had requests from Gulen to meet and even attempts of bribe by presenting him with a watch but he had rejected them. Evren said he would see Gulen if he were to wear a tie and meet with him as such and added that no one tried to set a meeting after he had put this condition.

Regarding Turkey’s European Union membership process, Evren said that the bloc was dragging its feet over Turkey. “They neither reject us nor accept us. I do not believe we would enter with a 10 year period,” Evren said.

He went on to say that the EU had not kept its promises made to the Turkish Cypriot side and that it was wrong to have the made the Customs Union deal before having joined the bloc.

In response to a question on the imprisoned terrorist leader leader Abdullah Ocalan giving orders to his organisation through his lawyers, Evren said that there should be someone on duty while Ocalan spoke to his lawyers. He said that he was saddened by this and that it was a weakness of officials responsible there.