As Egypt's military takeover unfolded this month, comparisons to Turkey's recent history of military meddling were almost inevitable. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' (SCAF's) 48-hour ultimatum before ousting Islamist President Mohamed Morsy, the country's first popularly elected leader, prompted easy comparisons to Turkey's 1971 "coup by memorandum." Other observers called attention to the parallels with Turkey's 1960 and 1997 coups, among others. In all three cases, the Turkish military returned power to civilian authorities after intervening, just as the SCAF did following Hosni Mubarak's ouster and as it has recently pledged to do again. Given the current tumult in Egypt, a Turkey-esque transition to civilian rule -- despite its own considerable drawbacks -- would arguably be one of the least bad outcomes resulting from the coup.
There is, however, another, far uglier precedent for Egypt's political trajectory: that of its poverty-stricken, authoritarian southern neighbor, Sudan.
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