BY YALCIN AKDOGAN
YENI SAFAK- A civilian secretary-general has at last been appointed to the National Security Council (NSC). Last summer the Parliament passed a series of reforms aimed at curtailing the influence of the military over politics, allowing the government to nominate a civilian secretary-general for the council. However, last year the military appointed Gen. Sukru Sariisik to the post for one year. As of August 30, Turkey's current ambassador to Greece, Yigit Alpogan, will take over the post from Gen. Sariisik and will be our country’s first civilian NSC secretary-general.
That Alpagon is an experienced diplomat with extensive knowledge of international politics is a real advantage for our country. Alpagon was once a Foreign Ministry undersecretary and then was appointed ambassador to Greece. Due to the recent rapprochement between the two Aegean neighbors, Ankara had to appoint a skillful and experienced diplomat as its ambassador to Greece, one who could steer relations properly. Besides, Turkey always appoints its best diplomats to serve in Athens.
Since Alpagon is such a good diplomat and a firm hand at international relations, the NSC is from now on expected to develop a more realistic and foreign policy-oriented vision.
Now the most vital issue facing Ankara is our possible European Union membership negotiations. All institutions have to cooperate to help the government and support its membership bid. Alpagon is expected to establish a balance between civilian and military circles as he already enjoys good relations with both sides.
Although the NSC has always been a constitutional institution, it has failed to be a democratic one. In order to become more democratic and civilian, first mentalities must change. The world has already witnessed many soldiers acting more democratically than civilians and also civilians who could be more oppressive than the military. Therefore, the question isn’t the label but the contents, in other word, the mentality itself.