Turkish Armed Forces - Role of The Military in Turkish Politics

Role of The Military in Turkish Politics

After the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk prohibited the political activities of officers in active service with the Military Penal Code numbered 1632 and dated 22 May 1930 (Askeri Ceza Kanunu). However, after the coups d'état in 1960, the Millî Birlik Komitesi (National Unity Committee) established the Inner Service Act of the Turkish Armed Forces (Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri İç Hizmet Kanunu) on 4 January 1961 to legitimize their military interventions in politics. In subsequent coup d'états and coup d'état attempts, they show reasons to justify their political activities especially with the article 35 and 85 of this act.

The Turkish military perceived itself as the guardian of Kemalist ideology, the official state ideology, especially of the secular aspects of Kemalism. The TAF still maintains an important degree of influence over the decision making process regarding issues related to Turkish national security, albeit decreased in the past decades, via the National Security Council.

The military had a record of intervening in politics, removing elected governments four times in the past. Indeed, it assumed power for several periods in the latter half of the 20th century. It executed coups d'état in 1960 (27 May Coup), in 1971 (12 March Coup), and in 1980 (12 September Coup). Most recently, it maneuvered the removal of an Islamic-oriented prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan in 1997 (28 February Process). The military executed the first democratically elected prime minister Adnan Menderes.

On April 27, 2007, in advance of the November 4, 2007 presidential election, and in reaction to the politics of Abdullah Gül, who has a past record of involvement in Islamist political movements and banned Islamist parties such as the Welfare Party, the army issued a statement of its interests. It said that the army is a party to "arguments" regarding secularism; that Islamism ran counter to the secular nature of Turkey, and to the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The Army's statement ended with a clear warning that the TAF stood ready to intervene if the secular nature of the Turkish Constitution is compromised, stating that "the Turkish Armed Forces maintain their sound determination to carry out their duties stemming from laws to protect the unchangeable characteristics of the Republic of Turkey. Their loyalty to this determination is absolute."

Contrary to outsider expectations, the Turkish populace was not uniformly averse to coups; many welcomed the ejection of governments they perceived as unconstitutional. Members of the military must also comply with the traditions of secularism, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom report in 2008, members who performed prayers or had wives who wore the headscarf, have been charged with “lack of discipline”.

Paradoxically, the military was an important force in Turkey’s Westernization but now represents an obstacle to Turkey’s desire to join the EU. Most surveys show trust in the military declining - from an average 90% in 2002 to 60% in 2011.

Over a hundred people, including several generals, have been detained or questioned since July 2008 with respect to so-called organisation Ergenekon, an alleged clandestine, ultra-nationalist organization with ties to members of the country's military and security forces. The group is accused of terrorism in Turkey. These accusing claims are reported, even while the trials are going on, mostly in the counter-secular and Islamist media organs.

On 22 February 2010 more than 40 officers arrested and then were formally charged with attempting to overthrow the government with respect to so-called "Sledgehammer" plot. They include four admirals, a general and two colonels, some of them retired, including former commanders of the Turkish navy and air force (three days later, the former commanders of the navy and air force were released). Partially as a result, the Washington Post reported in April 2010 that the military's power had decreased.

On the eve of the Supreme Military Council of August 2011, the Chief of Staff, along with the Army, Navy, and Air Force commanders, requested their retirement. Appointment of the force commanders in the Supreme Military Council meeting without any delay affirmed the government's control over the appointment of top-level commanders. However, promotions continue to be determined by the General Staff with limited civilian control. The European Commission, in its 2011 regular yearly report on Turkey's progress towards EU accession, said that '..Further reforms on the composition and powers of the Supreme Military Council, particularly on the legal basis of promotions, still need to materialise.' The service branch commanders continue to report to the Prime Minister instead of the Defence Minister. Following the crisis, Eric Edelman, a former American ambassador to Turkey and number two at the Pentagon under George W. Bush, described the TAF as "a broken and rudderless institution".