ANKARA, Aug 17 (AFP) - Turkey for the first time has appointed a civilian to head the country's influential national security council in line with reforms to boost its drive to join the European Union.
The appointment of Turkey's current ambassador to Greece, Yigit Alpogan, to the post of secretary general of the council, or MGK, was announced officially on Tuesday.
The council was previously headed by a top general and was long the forum through which the military influenced key decisions on important domestic and foreign policy issues such as the fight against Kurdish separatism and Islamic extremism, as well as Iraq and Cyprus.
Recent reforms have meant that the council, which includes top generals and government ministers, now has only an advisory role to the government.
The EU has strongly criticized the MGK, calling on civil authorities to curb the powers of the powerful military which has carried out three "hard" and one "soft" coup since 1960.
Last year, Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government passed a package of reforms through parliament limiting the powers of the council and allowing for the appointment of a civilian as the council's secretary-general.
The reforms were particularly difficult for Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party to push through because both are viewed by suspicion by the army, the self-appointed guardians of the secular system, for their ties to a now-defunct Islamist party.
Turkey has been a candidate for EU membership since 1999 but is the only country that has so far failed to begin negotiations on joining.
In October the European Commission is due to give its opinion on democratic progress made by the mainly Muslim country, and EU leaders will decide in December whether to open accession negotiations with Ankara.