Pyrrhean truce between Erdogan and the Turkish army

Their arrest, along with 38 other army officers, some still active, have upset Turkey. They are accused of being involved in the Beyloz affair, which between 2002 and 2003, aimed to overthrow the AKP government led by Erdogan. The plan foresaw provoked attacks aimed at destabilizing the Turkish political system, to undermine Erdogan’s political capabilities, attacks on mosques, the creation of episodes of war on the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece. According to the authoritative Turkish analyst Ali Bairamoglu, these events disrupt the foundations of an era, of a regime that has been crushed and the role of the military and  military men who, wishing to play a key role on the fate of the country, are now called upon to  account  for their misdeeds.  

This latest wave of arrests is the most important since the outset of the Ergenekon affair and comes at a time when political life in Turkey is characterized by intense polarization, triggered by the arrest of  Ilhan Cihaner judge of Erzincan. The latter, accused of being part of Ergenekon, was investigating alleged actions of religious sects to which Erdogan's party was accused having links.

Turkish analysts – among which of note, Orhan Cengiz Keman of TUSEV – remark that these statements make clear that the real underlying problem of Turkey is its constitution.    

That constitution was imposed in 1981 by the Evren coup. It should be noted that all the constitutions of the Turkish Republic have been imposed by coup. The latter, formed the current judicial and bureaucratic class which is opposed to any democratic reform.    

Besides Erdogan himself is the son of the constitution and just like Turkish society itself, without Democratic reflexes. But his struggle to lift a ban on the turban made him understand that only a radical constitutional reform will lead to the democratization of Turkish society. The liberal-progressive forces are pushing for a purge of the State of all conservative forces - represented by the bureaucracy, the judiciary and clearly by the army – because they are seen to be imbued with the coup virus of the past.    

The same forces do not hide that this period of political transition that the country is experiencing is full of pitfalls. A remarkable fact circulating among diplomatic circles is that the revelations on the Beyloz affair, made public by Taraf newspaper, that delivered no less than 5 thousand cases to the magistrate, must have had the tacit support of some sectors of the armed forces, which seek to protect their integrity to some degree. Even their penultimate Turkish Chief of Staff, Ozgur, had said during his farewell speech, that Turkey lack’s democracy.  

For obvious reasons, Erdogan avoids their support. Meanwhile the High Council of the Turkish Radio Television has recently given the go ahead to 14 television stations to broadcast in Kurdish dialects. And this after permission to broadcast  in Kurdish was issued in January 2009.  

For tomorrow, 28 February, Erdogan summoned a conference to be held in Dolmabaxce on constitutional reform in Turkey. Meanwhile, his minister for relations with the European Union is on tour of Europe, in search of support.