balkan analysis
December 2, 2010
By Çağrı Yıldırım*
The role of the military in Turkish politics is the central question in the country’s European Union membership process, since one of the crucial political factors stipulated by Brussels for obtaining full membership has been the democratic control of the military.
In order to achieve this ambitious aim, a dramatic reform process for democratic control has been launched. Under the AKP government, the power of the army in Turkish politics has dramatically diminished since 2002. Over the past two years, a number of officers and retired generals have been arrested in connection with the so-called “Ergenekon” case. Prosecutors accuse the network of planning to create chaos through a serious of bloody provocations, thus justifying a coup against the AKP government.
On the other hand, the Turkish general staff denied these accusations. As a result, there is an ongoing power struggle between Erdoğan’s government and the Turkish military. So, in spite of this move by the government, there are serious difficulties in terms of establishing full civilian control over the military due to the strong position of the Turkish military in politics.
The Military and the State: the Ottoman Legacy
The legacy of military involvement in Turkish politics goes back to Ottoman times. The military played a key role in the history of the Ottoman Empire, since it could extend its territory by having a strong army. Toward the end of the empire, the state’s modernization process was driven by military concerns.
The evolution of the army commenced through the establishment of institutions developed according to Western models, in which a new generation of reformist officers appeared. These officers began to see themselves as the vanguard of enlightenment. They pioneered the political modernization by leading the 1876 revolution and the Young Turk revolution of 1908. The legacy of military intervention appeared through these revolutions in which the armed forces played a leading role. These interventions brought about new reforms, which changed significant aspects of the political and social system.
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*Çağrı Yıldırım is a Research Assistant at the Department of International Relations at Izmir University of Economics, and a master’s student in its Sustainable Energy program. He holds a B.A. in International Relations and the EU from Izmir University of Economics. His research interests include energy politics, energy security and international politics, and EU-Turkey relations.
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