Erdogan gives Turkish military immunity (original) (raw)

President Erdogan has handed wide-ranging legal immunity to the Turkish military, in the latest sign of a détente between the former enemies.

A bill signed off by Mr Erdogan on Wednesday and published in the Official Gazette yesterday protects soldiers taking part in domestic security operations from prosecution by requiring government approval for legal cases to proceed.

Cases against commanders must now be approved by the prime minister, while those against lower-ranking soldiers can be signed off by district governors.

The military is increasingly taking the lead in operations against the Kurdish militia the PKK in the east of Turkey. Violence broke out in the region last summer when the group, which is classed as a terrorist organisation in Turkey, the US and the UK, called off a two-year ceasefire and began a string of attacks on security personnel.

Anti-terror operations in the region were initially police-led, but have gradually given way to full-scale military operations. A number of towns and districts have been placed under complete military curfew in an attempt to stamp out the PKK insurgency.

However, Turkey is coming under criticism for its handling of the conflict, with rights organisations accusing it of a campaign of indiscriminate violence and collective punishment. This week Human Rights Watch reported that Ankara is blocking independent investigations into alleged abuses in areas under curfew. There is also a lack of clear information on the numbers killed in the operations.

Ankara has also revived the system of Village Guards, paramilitary units made up of local Kurds who fight alongside the regular armed forces. They have also been handed immunity under the new law.

Mr Erdogan has suffered a rocky relationship with the military since coming to power in 2003. A pious Muslim who is trying to increase the influence of Islam in Turkey’s political and social life, he made a natural enemy of the secular military elites. In 2007 the government launched investigations into scores of high-ranking officers accused of plotting a coup. Their convictions stymied the once gargantuan power of the military.

Since 2013, however, Mr Erdogan has been moving to make amends with his former nemesis. Most of the imprisoned generals have been pardoned and released. The president has now turned his attentions to the Gulenists, followers of an exiled preacher who he accuses of infiltrating the highest ranks of the state, and of orchestrating a corruption scandal that nearly brought down the government in December 2013. The organisation was listed as a terrorist group in October last year.

Investigations have been opened into 1,700 military personnel and 400 military civil servants suspected of belonging to the Gulenists.