Similarly, the curriculum of the military students who start to enroll in military schools at the age of 14 is no different from the civilian education system in that the same basic problem exists.A circular distributed by former Turkish Chief of General Staff retired Gen. Hilmi Özkök back in July 2004 and soon after reported in Radikal daily has also proven that topics taught to the military students on military doctrines were also outdated.
In the circular in question Özkök ordered the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to change its education system to catch up with the needs of the 21st century and to adapt themselves to the changing concepts of threat (July 8, 2004, Radikal, Murat Yetkin).
Özkök's order hinted at the problems facing the TSK due to its current structure, which recalls the Cold War years and which, among other things, is based on quantity rather than quality.
Added to the problem is the military's traditional political role that was strengthened with the 1982 military dictated constitution, as well as the military's internal regulations, which has been prompting it to interfere in domestic politics. Military students are also educated in a way that they end up seeing themselves as the sole guardian protecting the secular principles of Turkey's founder Atatürk.
The core reason for the five military interventions -- in different forms varying from military coups to memorandums -- in the 84-year-old history of the republic is the problematic military education system that periodically distracts the TSK's attention from its core duty of defending the nation against external threats.
The civilian education system based on imposing certain ideologies on the pupils has prevented the establishment of a system where those accountable, i.e. the elected civilian authorities, fully exercise their right of both ruling and governing the nation. Instead Turkey has been ruled by a dual system of sharing powers between the appointed bureaucrats and the civilian political authorities, preventing the country from full democratization.
It is worth mentioning that there have been ongoing efforts in the civilian education system to change the curriculum so as to pave the way for pupils to be able to argue subjects instead of solely learning topics by heart. This may benefit subsequent generations, being less ideological and more contemporary.
However there have been no indications that the current TSK leadership has been following the orders of Gen. Özkök concerning the education reform needed in the TSK.
A columnist from Radikal daily, Mehmet Ali Kışlalı, known for his pro-military views, was emphasizing over the weekend that there was a change needed in the military's education system, signaling that TSK has not appeared to have been following Gen. Özkök's orders.
Interviewed this weekend by Zaman daily, Kışlalı suggested that if military coups were viewed as wrong, the TSK's education system should be changed.
"I am not in a position to say this and that. If you (political leadership) can change this education system through the constitution, then change it. Secondly, laws say the TSK will defend the nation against both internal and external threats. Then change this too. Under the current circumstances it is not easy to change these [laws]. How can the military education system be changed and how many generations it will take? Over 100,000 officers are trained under this education system. Europeans do not understand this. They think that when the numbers of military representatives on the National Security Council (MGK) are reduced, everything is done. Of course not."
Kışlalı, who has perhaps too associated himself with the views of the military, has in fact been telling civilians on behalf of the military that there has been no will under the current military leadership to change the problematic military education system.
But what those like Kışlalı do not want to accept is that in democracies, turning problematic areas into normal ones can only be possible through strong civilian leadership.
Thus in Turkey one of the primary tasks of any civilian leadership, which itself should be accountable, is to prove to the nation that the country is under its full authority, including the TSK, if it wants to install a functioning democracy.
