For weeks now we have been debating the process and outcomes of the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting that convened yesterday. This is supposed to be a routine meeting deciding on the cases of promotion among the generals. But in reality it is different. The military attaches great importance to this meeting because it is the occasion where they shape the command structure of the military with long-term impact. Competition is fierce among various groupings, and what is at stake is very high.Observing the whole process gives one the impression that it is not a simple change of military command but a change of government. And this is partly true. Simply because generals do not only command troops but lay a claim on commanding Turkey.
This is unacceptable, yet not untrue. This simple fact reveals undemocratic elements that still remain in Turkish polity. If Turkey were a fully functioning democracy why should we be concerned about a process of bureaucratic appointment?
Turkey is still struggling to establish full democracy that requires taking the military under civilian-democratic control. In this context YAŞ meetings are important for democratic forces, too. It is a mechanism that has to be utilized in order to bring the military accountable to the civilian government.
Yet through the YAŞ meetings the military resist changes. Civilians, the prime minister and the minister of national defense do not have any significant influence in YAŞ with 15 members where each has one vote. Thus, the prime minster sits there and accepts what the full generals decide in majority.
Under normal circumstances the military may be left to decide about its own high command. But this is an unusual year when one out of 10 generals is accused of plotting a military coup against the government according to the indictment of the Sledgehammer trial. In other words, 25 generals, 13 of whom expect promotion during this year’s YAŞ meeting, are “suspects” being tried for sentences of up to 20 years.
The court decided two weeks ago to arrest these generals. The arrest was warranted by the court’s “strong suspicion” about the suspects. Since then they have not turned up before the court and have not been arrested by the police. There were reports, not denied by the military so far, that those generals investigated by the police have been taken to “safe areas” by the General Staff.
This is really unbelievable. How can the military protect the suspects from justice?
Last week it was also leaked to the press that the General Staff provided legal advice to the suspects of the Sledgehammer trial. All these aimed at securing the promotion of those “suspected generals” since, according to the military personnel law, any military personnel who is arrested or accused of a crime punishable with more than a five years sentence cannot be promoted.
It is obvious that the military high command does not respect the law. But a military that does not abide by the law will lose the trust of the people. Many in this country rightly ask: What is more important, the promotion of a few “suspected” generals or the credibility of the military as a whole?
What is more is the fact that the generals who are on trial being accused of plotting a military coup are still in command of their troops. The alleged crime was to be committed by the troops under the command of these generals. They still hold their control over the means of the alleged crime.
This poses a great threat for Turkish democracy, and it is the duty of the government to remove it. If the government fails in this the people, who want the military to remain in its barracks respecting law and obeying civilian rulers, will hold the government, not the military, accountable.
