WHAT ATATURK HATH WROUGHT

TURKISH MILITARY FACING DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN CHALLENGES (Nicolas Birch, 5/07/03, EurasiaNet)

Turkey?s military, which has long cast itself as the defender of the country?s secular tradition, is facing a two-front political challenge. Turkish generals have already clashed with members of the governing Justice and Development Party over recent policy moves. At the same time, the military has come under heavy criticism from top US officials for not assuming a ?strong leadership role? in Turkish regional diplomatic initiatives following the Iraq conflict.

An indicator of the challenges confronting the Turkish military was the length of the April 30 meeting of the National Security Council (MGK), which provides a monthly opportunity for Turkey?s top brass to discuss policy with civilian political leaders. That MGK session lasted seven-and-a-half hours, the longest such meeting in several years. In sharp contrast, the statement released following the meeting was startlingly brief ? one sentence reaffirming that ?secularism must be meticulously protected."

Well before it gained a landslide victory in last November?s parliamentary elections, the Islamic roots of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) prompted deep suspicion in military circles. And despite repeated AKP insistence that its political approach is moderate, and that it should not be compared to the Islamist government pushed out of power in February 1997, government-military tension has escalated in recent weeks.

Worried by a recent Foreign Ministry circular advising embassies to improve links with Milli Gorus, a conservative religious group with a wide following among Europe?s massive Turkish Diaspora, Turkish military leaders are increasingly concerned by government moves to replace senior bureaucrats with AKP-loyalists.

AKP-military tension burst into the open April 23, when top generals, along with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and opposition politicians, declined to attend a reception hosted by parliamentary speaker Bulent Arinc to celebrate the anniversary of the parliament?s foundation. The cause of the boycott was an announcement that Arinc?s head-scarfed wife would attend the reception. Those staying away from the reception viewed the announcement as a political challenge to Turkish secularism. Ultimately, Arinc backed down, saying his wife would not attend.

Turkey is another state, like Chile (see below), where the conservative military has been the ironic guarantor of liberalism. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 23, 2003 9:16 AM