Erdogan and the Turkish military: the challenge continues
by NAT da Polis
The Turkish premier responds to the protest resignation of military leaders with new appointments, supported by the head of state Gul, emboldened by election victory two months ago. But the choices reveal a compromise. The new chief of staff accused of war crimes in the Kurdish provinces.
Ankara (AsiaNews) - The ongoing showdown between Erdogan and the military seems to have no end. And as was the case in the previous two years the showdown takes place in the month of August, and, coincidentally, at the height of Ramadan. In fact, July 29, 2011, two months after the Erdogan’s electoral victory, the heads of the armed forces, namely the Chief of Defense, the general Isik Kosaner followed by chiefs of the army, navy and air force have resigned from their posts. The reason for their resignation: disagreement with the government over the detention of 14 generals and approximately 160 senior officers, all in service, placed under investigation because indicted for conspiracy and for the investigation of the infamous "Ergenekon" (the "Turkish Gladio") and Beyloz cases.
They claim to be unjustly accused and not yet on trial, and thus prevented from participating in planned upcoming promotions during the month of August. The only one not to resign was the head of the gendarmerie, Gen. Necdet Ozel, who is also responsible for territorial security intelligence, which refers to by the Ministry of Interior as well as the police. The latter, as is well known, is very close to Erdogan.
Generalissimo Kosaner took the opportunity of his resignation to rail against pro-government media, guilty, in his view, of tarnishing the value and prestige of the Turkish Armed Forces, seen as pillars of contemporary Turkey. These are certainly sensational facts, this is the first time in Turkish history that military has resigned; to date in fact, it was armed forces which forced politicians to resign, even to the point of imposing the death sentence, as was the case 50 years ago when the then Prime Minister Menderes was hanged because accused of trying to oppose the excessive power of the military. This, therefore, marks a radical change which seems shocking and hard to get used to, as noted by the journalist of "Sabah" newspaper Mehmet Barla.
Erdogan’s response was immediate, backed by President Gul, who thanks to the constitutional amendments of September 12, 2010 and subsequent to the decrees of March 2011 have essentially established the independence of political power from the Supreme Council of Defense, the decisions of which until then, were considered final. On August 4, 2011 Erdogan and Gul have proceeded to appoint as head of the army the only one who has not resigned, General Necdet Ozel and have even appointed him provisional Chief of Staff of defense.
Following this Erdogan convened under his absolute and authoritative presidency - also for the first time in the history of Republic of Turkey - the Supreme Defence Council, with only the presence of nine general of the 14 demanded by the Statute of the Council itself. As already mentioned, four generals had resigned and the fifth, Admiral Bilgin Bolandi, is under investigation for Beyloz and Ergenekon.
Three days ago, the Supreme Defense Council confirmed General Necdet Ozel as Chief of staff, and the appointment of leaders of the military (Hayri Kivrikoglu), aeronautics (Mehmet Erten), Navy (Emin Murat Bilgel) and gendarmerie (Bekir Kalyoncu). The new composition was the result of compromises and a degree of magnanimity on the part of Erdogan, also because of the impossibility of finding material to fill in the missing pieces, given that 14 generals are still under investigation, without upsetting at the same time the leadership of the Turkish Armed Forces.
The result of these compromises was the appointment of Bekir Kalyoncu to the head of the gendarmerie, as his name appears on the list those of the accused in the Ergenekon case, and the marginalization of Aslan Guner, former Deputy Chief of Staff of Defense, to the direction of the Academy of War. He is guilty of not having greeted the wife of President Gul because covered with the veil. Magnanimity, as we have said, on Erdogan’s part since he has extended the temporarily suspended career of the 14 generals indicted for conspiracy. Another important fact is that the new appointments have been approved and communicated, for the first time, by the Presidency of the Republic and not by the Chief of Staff, as was customary until now.
Various comments have been made about this latest confrontation. First and foremost, from Erdogan, who, without mentioning the fact reiterated the urgent need for constitutional reform. Conservative and nationalist elements regard the gesture of the military leaders as a "harakiri", because they delivered themselves into the hands of Erdogan, while the newspaper Taraf, which over the years has supported the investigation of various conspiracies against military cadres involved in Beyloz and Ergenekon and the subsequent cleaning up of the armed forces, considered it as a failure and compromise by Erdogan. Milliyet in contrast, expression of the old establishment, described the events as a good start and made their own the words of President Gul, who granting an extension to the 14 generals under investigation said: "If an extension of their general’s mandate were not granted, the new Chief of Staff would meet with great difficulty in his work. This gives him a good start, "said Gul.
Murat Belge, highest expression of civic conscience in Turkey, has said: "It is not enough to appoint a new Chief of Staff for Defense in Turkey to confirm democratic processes. Democracy does not happen by decree but it is a civil achievement, so we must take care. " Regarding the new Chief of Defense, Ozel, there was no negative comment about him in the media, except that of a group of German parliamentarians (Ulla Ozpeke, Anrej Hunk, Ingrid Remmers, Heidrun Dietrich and Harold Weinher) who speaking to local media accuse the new chief of defense for war crimes in the Kurdish provinces in1999, when he was head of the gendarmerie.
They claim to be unjustly accused and not yet on trial, and thus prevented from participating in planned upcoming promotions during the month of August. The only one not to resign was the head of the gendarmerie, Gen. Necdet Ozel, who is also responsible for territorial security intelligence, which refers to by the Ministry of Interior as well as the police. The latter, as is well known, is very close to Erdogan.
Generalissimo Kosaner took the opportunity of his resignation to rail against pro-government media, guilty, in his view, of tarnishing the value and prestige of the Turkish Armed Forces, seen as pillars of contemporary Turkey. These are certainly sensational facts, this is the first time in Turkish history that military has resigned; to date in fact, it was armed forces which forced politicians to resign, even to the point of imposing the death sentence, as was the case 50 years ago when the then Prime Minister Menderes was hanged because accused of trying to oppose the excessive power of the military. This, therefore, marks a radical change which seems shocking and hard to get used to, as noted by the journalist of "Sabah" newspaper Mehmet Barla.
Erdogan’s response was immediate, backed by President Gul, who thanks to the constitutional amendments of September 12, 2010 and subsequent to the decrees of March 2011 have essentially established the independence of political power from the Supreme Council of Defense, the decisions of which until then, were considered final. On August 4, 2011 Erdogan and Gul have proceeded to appoint as head of the army the only one who has not resigned, General Necdet Ozel and have even appointed him provisional Chief of Staff of defense.
Following this Erdogan convened under his absolute and authoritative presidency - also for the first time in the history of Republic of Turkey - the Supreme Defence Council, with only the presence of nine general of the 14 demanded by the Statute of the Council itself. As already mentioned, four generals had resigned and the fifth, Admiral Bilgin Bolandi, is under investigation for Beyloz and Ergenekon.
Three days ago, the Supreme Defense Council confirmed General Necdet Ozel as Chief of staff, and the appointment of leaders of the military (Hayri Kivrikoglu), aeronautics (Mehmet Erten), Navy (Emin Murat Bilgel) and gendarmerie (Bekir Kalyoncu). The new composition was the result of compromises and a degree of magnanimity on the part of Erdogan, also because of the impossibility of finding material to fill in the missing pieces, given that 14 generals are still under investigation, without upsetting at the same time the leadership of the Turkish Armed Forces.
The result of these compromises was the appointment of Bekir Kalyoncu to the head of the gendarmerie, as his name appears on the list those of the accused in the Ergenekon case, and the marginalization of Aslan Guner, former Deputy Chief of Staff of Defense, to the direction of the Academy of War. He is guilty of not having greeted the wife of President Gul because covered with the veil. Magnanimity, as we have said, on Erdogan’s part since he has extended the temporarily suspended career of the 14 generals indicted for conspiracy. Another important fact is that the new appointments have been approved and communicated, for the first time, by the Presidency of the Republic and not by the Chief of Staff, as was customary until now.
Various comments have been made about this latest confrontation. First and foremost, from Erdogan, who, without mentioning the fact reiterated the urgent need for constitutional reform. Conservative and nationalist elements regard the gesture of the military leaders as a "harakiri", because they delivered themselves into the hands of Erdogan, while the newspaper Taraf, which over the years has supported the investigation of various conspiracies against military cadres involved in Beyloz and Ergenekon and the subsequent cleaning up of the armed forces, considered it as a failure and compromise by Erdogan. Milliyet in contrast, expression of the old establishment, described the events as a good start and made their own the words of President Gul, who granting an extension to the 14 generals under investigation said: "If an extension of their general’s mandate were not granted, the new Chief of Staff would meet with great difficulty in his work. This gives him a good start, "said Gul.
Murat Belge, highest expression of civic conscience in Turkey, has said: "It is not enough to appoint a new Chief of Staff for Defense in Turkey to confirm democratic processes. Democracy does not happen by decree but it is a civil achievement, so we must take care. " Regarding the new Chief of Defense, Ozel, there was no negative comment about him in the media, except that of a group of German parliamentarians (Ulla Ozpeke, Anrej Hunk, Ingrid Remmers, Heidrun Dietrich and Harold Weinher) who speaking to local media accuse the new chief of defense for war crimes in the Kurdish provinces in1999, when he was head of the gendarmerie.
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See also
Erdoğan’s victory over the military
17/08/2010
17/08/2010
