An uneasy military marriage in
Turkey By Hilmi Toros
ISTANBUL - Despite the verdict at the
polls, Turkey's staunchly secular military is far
from caving in to the Islamic-rooted civilian
authority that is now in full control of
Parliament, the government and the presidency. At
best it appears willing to accept, for the time
being, an uneasy co-existence.
The tanks
are in the barracks and military planes on the
ground, but the powerful and ever watchful
military brass has yet to embrace former foreign
minister Abdullah Gul fully as president
and
titular commander-in-chief since Parliament
elected the former Islamist as head of state on
August 28.
The chiefs of staff, in a
sudden foray into politics in a midnight
memorandum on their website, had opposed Gul's
nomination by his Justice and Development Party
(AKP), leading to an impasse in Parliament that
brought early elections.
But the national
poll returned the AKP to power, with its
proportion of the vote going up from 34% to 47%,
and the new Parliament elected Gul. The new
president, a ranking member of two former Islamist
parties, now vows allegiance to secular values.
The AKP professes to be "conservative" and not
religious.
The military brass abstained
from Gul's swearing-in ceremony, and stayed away
from his first reception at the presidential
palace on the hills of the capital Ankara. And on
the national holiday August 30, the invitation to
Gul at a military reception was not extended to
his wife Hayrunnisa, who wears the Islamic
headscarf seen as a symbol of resistance to
secularism.
Only once did chief of staff
General Yasar Buyukanit go to the palace to see
Gul. He carried with him a visible briefcase
interpreted by the media as containing military
demands that Turkey must stay on its secular
course and not tilt toward Islamic principles in
policy and public life.
So far, no senior
military commander has followed the Turkish custom
of addressing Gul as "My President". As a result,
if there is no paralysis over policy, tension is
in the air.
Commentator Mehmet Ali Birand
of the largest daily newspaper Posta says "the
lack of dialogue" between the military and
civilian authorities "is beginning to hurt the
country" at a time when it faces a possible
meltdown in its neighbor Iraq and has to deal with
its own Kurdish rebels.
"In Turkey, it is
impossible to establish any common policy due to
the unfortunate rupture of dialogue between the
civilians and the military," he wrote. "Enough is
enough," he said, asking that "the government and
the military come together to plan new policies,
form a new vision and take precautions against all
possibilities".
Another commentator,
Mustafa Akyol, in an "open letter to the Turkish
military" published in the English-language Daily
News, wrote: "Dear generals: I am proud to have a
strong military that supports our nation against
potential threats." He questioned the military's
role in internal politics.
"The only way
to avoid internal conflict is to appreciate our
diversity," the columnist noted. "Some citizens
wear headscarves, others prefer miniskirts ... I
hope to see gestures from you nowadays which will
show that you genuinely accept and respect our new
president and the first lady."
Nermin
Bezmen, a best-selling novelist and columnist,
told Inter Press Service: "The military is still
the guardian of our secular constitution. But its
role is changing. Whether it likes it or not, it
has to deal with civilians who got close to 50% of
votes. It can't be as outspoken as before.
"Currently, the military and the civilians
go only as far as being polite to each other. The
crux will come when Parliament tries to amend the
constitution."
The current constitution,
bestowing power to the military beyond that of
defending the country against external threat, was
drafted in 1982 in the wake of one of four
military interventions overthrowing civil
administrations since 1960. It is up for change
and is set to be replaced by a "civilian"
constitution restricting the role of the military,
and broadening human rights and freedom of
expression.
The drafting is at an early
stage, but opponents are already warning against
any effort to bring in religious values at the
expense of secularism. Onur Oymen, a deputy leader
of the main opposition People's Republican Party,
has accused the ruling party of trying to impose
"a regime change" taking advantage of its
overwhelming parliamentary majority (340 seats in
the 550-member chamber).
The military
enjoys special prestige. Unlike the police, it is
hardly criticized directly. Conscripts leaving to
join the 500,000-plus military are sent off with
fanfare. One of the first things they chant in
unison when they reach their barracks is: "Every
Turk is born a soldier. I sacrifice my life to the
nation."
The military brass also in effect
sets its budget, although the military falls under
the authority of a civilian defense minister.
Civilians have little say in military promotions,
including that of the chief of general staff.
An uneasy truce continues because so far
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party
members have abstained from criticizing the
military over its aloofness to civilian
authorities.
Gul may have been trained as
an economist, but the former foreign minister has
also shown he is a skilled diplomat. His first
visit after his election was to the
Kurdish-populated areas in the east and southeast.
He spoke there of national unity, but ended the
day's Muslim fast with a meal at the barracks.
His wife has yet to be seen at any state
function, where headscarves have been taboo for
more than half a century.
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