From military tutelage to civilian control: an analysis of the evolution of Turkish civil–military relations (original) (raw)

Civil-military relations in Turkey: From military veto power to civilian political control

This article seeks to contextualise the 15 July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey by discussing the historical role of the Turkish Armed Forces in politics, and the civilianisation process that has taken place in Turkish civil-military relations over the last fifteen years. It is argued that the coup-attempt can be regarded as a legacy from the traditional 'guardianship' role that the Turkish military used to play in politics, but also as an outcome of the turbulent process of civilianisation.

Civilian and Military Relations in Turkey: A Historical Survey Acar Kutay

This CMI Working Paper presents an analysis of civilian-military relations in Turkey, casting light on institutional, legal and economic aspects that have shaped the military’s role in society. An assessment of contemporary civilian-military relations in Turkey needs to be informed by a historical background. To that end, this paper chronicles how the military has evolved since the Ottoman Empire up till today, emphasising key historical processes that influence the dynamics between military and civilian powers. The paper concludes by observing that in recent decades the Turkish military has, by and large, withdrawn from the political scene, yet that recent political developments in the region and a corresponding intensification of security concerns leave open how this may evolve. Civilian-military relations have been considered in the context of the failed coup attempt of July 2015 in which the government aimed at absolute control over the armed forces and the military lost all of its major privileges.

TIME TO ASK “HOW?” TOWARDS A NEW CONCEPTUALIZATION OF CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS IN TURKEY

An enormous amount of curiosity about Civil-Military Relations (CMR) in Turkey has emerged. In the literature, one may easily find descriptive historical analyses that seek to answer "what happened" types of questions as well as more analytical papers seeking to elucidate the "why did it happen" aspects of the story. Those who want to read model-proposing works on the "Hows" of Turkish CMR, however, would be disappointed in these pieces. This article suggests that the explanatory power of the traditional literature on Turkish CMR, which limitedly addresses the dichotomous conflict-ridden power relations between militaries and governments, has increasingly been fading away as a result of the established mutual collaboration between the Turkish Military and the governments from 2002 onwards. Then, it is time to turn over a new leaf and expand the conventional understanding of civil military relations in Turkey. The overall aim of this study, therefore, is to present a constitutive framework for more analytical "modelproposing" pieces on Turkish CMR that would transfer current debates on CMR in Turkey to more fertile ground.

Motives for reforms on civil–military relations in Turkey

This article examines the progress and shortcomings of democratic control of armed forces (DCAF) reforms in Turkey and seeks to question how Turkey might be further motivated to implement reforms. It questions official motives in each reform process and finds two main motives for progress: the prospect of EU accession and democratization. It finds the motive for the existing shortcomings as the goal for allowing a degree of authority for military within DCAF in order to prevent political abuse of military power. Thus it seems that Turkey might be motivated to overcome these shortcomings only when its understanding of DCAF details a full subordination of military to civilian authority.

Civil-Military Relationship between 2000 and 2012 in Turkey in the Context of Modern State

The EU process, shaping the dominant policy and enhancing civil liberty in Turkey and the implementations, desire and determination of the political government, which has governed the country since November 3rd, 2002, regarding wide spreading political field; together with the global and local progresses during 2000s, paved the way of military to give up their habitual immunities. Since 2000 to our time, it is certain that important steps have been taken and important developments have occurred regarding efforts for harmonization to EU standards, for the civil-military relationship to normalise just as the developed democracies. The events experienced in this process had reflections on political structure. However, it cannot be stated that impact areas of the military on civil life have been completely eliminated. In this study, the legal regulations to be made and constitutional reforms needed; for the civil-military relations to normalise and be conducted on a proper and healthy base, just as a modern state, and for the democracy and law to rule over state affairs, will be discussed.

Civil-Military Relations in Turkey

The purpose of this project is twofold: to highlight the basic framework scholars use to analyze civil-military relations, and to use that framework to describe the content of twenty recent scholarly articles that examine civil-military relations in Turkey. The normative literature review derives from traditional civil-military relations literature that also provides background for the conceptual framework. The conceptual framework consists of five descriptive categories: civil-military problematic, civilian control, military professionalism, institutional structures, and challenges. These categories are used for the content analysis of the applied research project. The study uses content analysis of the articles on civil-military relations in Turkey. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentage) are used to report the results of the content analysis.

Civil-Military Relations in Europe, the Middle East and Turkey

This article seeks to understand the transformation of Turkish civil-military relations in a comparative perspective. The analysis is based on two criteria: institutional/legal mechanisms and political oversight of the military's autonomy. Comparison of European and Middle Eastern civil-military relations models to the Turkish paradigm unveils grave differences between Turkish and Middle Eastern civil-military relations. The Turkish model in transformation for at least a decade is closer to the European model in both legal and political aspects. Nevertheless, the article underscores that Turkish civil-military relations are still in transformation and although the EU accession process has gradually democratized the legal system of the country, democratic consolidation requires further advances in the political domain. Consequently, consolidation in Turkey depends not only on retreating of the military from the political realm but also on the proper civilianization of the regime in theory and practice.

An Analysis of Two Different Models of Civil-Military Relations: The Case of Turkey

ABSTRACT This article analyzes Turkish civil-military relations with the help of two different models of civil-military relations (separation and concordance) in order to bring a new perspective to the analysis of civil-military relations. The article begins with a short review of the theoretical framework of the separation and concordance models, followed by a brief history of four military interventions that occurred in Turkey in 1960, 1971, 1980, and 1997. The article will then analyze Turkish civil-military relations through the separation and concordance models in an attempt to decide which model would be more appropriate to explain the Turkish case. It reaches the conclusion that the concordance model is more appropriate than the separation model to serve that purpose. However, the concordance model has some methodological weaknesses, requiring modification in order to properly analyze the case of Turkey. Keywords: Civil-Military Relations, Military Guardianship, Separation Model, Concordance Model, Turkish Civil-Military Relations.

CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS IN TURKEY: THE AK PARTY ERA

Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi / The Journal of International Social Research , 2019

The relationship between civil-military relations is one of the important issues of Turkish politics and sociology. Every decade, the army intervened in politics with its armed force; has influenced the parameters of society, politics and even economy and determined the limits. In this study, civil-military transformation that have lived in the country were examined at period of AK Party which has governed the country interruptedly since 3 November 2002. In this direction, the main events which reveals the spirit of every period and the parameters of the period were analyzed firstly by classifying the period of AK Party. For this purpose, the April 27 e-memorandum, the 367 crisis that emerged during the presidential elections process, the status quo Kemalist soldiers and events attempting to mortgage democratic life and national will as a coup attempt by FETÖ has been described in a holistic manner. In this context, the reform steps by the AK Party, led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, were elaborated and political photo of Turkey's transformation was illustrated with descriptive method with democratic transformation. In this way, despite the pressure of the status quo Kemalist soldiers and different ideological groups, it was revealed that the AK Party which ruled the country with the authority given by the national will has achieved permanent transformations in the civil-military relations that will affect the present and the future.

POPULAR DETERMINANT ON CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS IN TURKEY

Military influence on political life in Turkey is a widely known phenomenon in civil-military relations (CMRs) literature, and there are multiple studies reviewing Turkish military tutelage and its roots in the light of the theories developed in this field. However, dynamics of the increasing civilian control over the armed forces in the last decade still serves as a field for further studies. As put forward in CMRs theories, civilian control can be established and maintained through formal arrangements and informal practices. The source of power required to make changes in CMRs is also emphasized along with these control mechanisms. Following the coup in 1980, limited demilitarization process in Turkey was carried out partly with the help of the civilian leaders' personalities and partly with the support of the European Union membership procedures, which has been ineffective since 2005. How civilianization was accomplished since then still needs to be clarified. This article aims to explain the factor(s) that enabled the civilians to gain full control over the armed forces in this period. As a result, the role of popular support is identified as the leading factor for designing formal and informal mechanisms to control the military in Turkey since 2007.