STAR- Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli comments on the heated debate on the role of the military in Turkey and the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) ambiguous stance on this issue. A summary of her column is as follows:
The most sincere and outspoken person AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with during his tour of European capitals was Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Barosso. The Portuguese premier, with a single question he posed to Erdogan, gave a clear-cut picture of how Turkey is seen from Europe. He asked: “How long will it take for the European Union to be convinced that the picture in Turkey is no longer one of the military dominating the country’s civilian politics, and that no one is scared of fundamentalist Islamic rule in Turkey anymore?” Indeed, this is a very meaningful question.
Even if, for the time being, the EU member countries aren’t speaking of it out loud, they believe that one of the most serious problems in Turkish-EU relations is the current power of the Turkish military to manipulate actions of the civilian government through mandates of the National Security Council (MGK). The reason why the EU doesn’t address this issue out loud is hidden in the second part of Barosso’s question. European leaders are aware that the overwhelming control of the Turkish military over the nation’s civilian government stems from the fear that Turkey’s regime could easily slide into Islamic rule. This is what Barosso told Erdogan in a diplomatic way. Erdogan felt quite comfortable in answering the second part of Barosso’s question, the part mostly related to Erdogan himself and his party. He stressed, as he does at every occasion, that the AKP had attracted votes from all sectors of society and thus represented not only its religiously oriented groups but in fact a broad swath of society. And Erdogan is trying to burnish this image by promoting Turkey’s EU membership bid.
However, the core of the issue lies in the first part of Barosso’s question, to which Erdogan can’t give a straightforward answer. The military’s impact on civilian government in Turkey has been clearly cited in every document and report the EU has presented as one of the most serious defects in its conforming with the Copenhagen political criteria.
The AKP has pledged to implement reforms in almost every area. But when it comes to the issue of the role of the military in Turkish politics, they prefer to remain silent, perhaps because of the delicate, critical balances in Turkey. Only once did he address this issue, in Sweden, confining himself to say merely that the boundaries of the military’s powers were clearly defined under the Turkish Constitution. Moreover, Erdogan is constantly trying to avoid getting involved in such a debate. What’s more interesting is that his attitude is proving to have implications in the AKP’s official government policies. Top AKP figures have declared that this issue would in no way be included in the letter which the AKP is to soon send to the EU. This letter includes matters stretching from the retrial of the Democracy Party (DEP) deputies to reforms in the freedom of the press and procedures in keeping criminal records. Yet, no word will appear on the impact of the military in Turkey or the legal status of military courts and their procedures. These issues are at the very cores of the EU’s belief that Turkey has failed to meet the Copenhagen political criteria.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION