Only a week ago, Today's Zaman reported US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza as replying to Greek Cypriot demands for American pressure on Turkey that Turkey has become a superpower in its region and as such the US is no longer in a position to pressure it. This is no longer a prophecy. “One does not need a guide when the village is in sight,” as we Turks say.This is not self-flattery. There is nothing special in the blood or brains of Turks. There is no ethnic predetermination in history. With this kind of historical background, geo-strategic advantages and a highly mobile and vigilant population of 70 million, this birth can only be labeled “delayed.”
The delay is due to the delay in Turkey's democratization and Westernization. Had Turkey become a member of the European Union together with, let's say, Greece and had Turkey overcome its defensive foreign policy reflexes 20 years ago, we would probably be discussing today whether this regional superpower could play a global role or not.
A major failure of Turkey's democratization is its inability to keep its military out of civilian politics. Only civilian politics can give birth to a new civilization. An important element of a military's strength is its determination and ability to stay out of politics. Uncontrolled power is a weakness. Civilian control of the military is not a deficiency for it; it is the guarantor of the military's concentration on security issues.
Turkey remembers force commanders who suggested that they should spend less time on their duties in the military and more time on politics.
Now, the government has passed -- yes, truly in a midnight operation, as Deniz Baykal says -- a new law subjecting military personnel to civilian prosecution over criminal misdeeds not related to disciplinary issues. This law is as important as full constitutional reform. This is not against the military; it is against the “myth of untouchables” through which the young officers of the military are educated. That myth gave way to a series of military interventions in daily politics, be they in the form of coups or in the form of press meetings and media leaks that influenced the political processes.
Changing the Constitution is still a must, but this law will guarantee that such a change can be made without any resistance from the barracks. This law will guarantee that young officers won't be dreaming about a future era where they will lead the country, sit in the presidential office, execute the elected political leader and persecute the people that elected them. Civilian control of military expenditures will no longer be a remote ideal. Military personnel will learn that they serve the nation and not vice versa.
If applied properly, that law will also change the language of military personnel. Military officers use a language of monologue. Monologues necessarily lead to domination and authoritarianism. This can be necessary within the army barracks. Military service is not a place for a critical mind, they say. A language of short, unsophisticated orders and short, unquestioning obedience may fit the military environment. But this also prevents the development of language and communication skills. Development of mental abilities is directly related to the development of language skills. We do think with words. The weakness of the vocabulary of military officers was made obvious by the recent e-memorandums, the literary aspects of which, we thought, were not fitting to the level of intellectual development of a chief of general staff. Unfortunately, he insisted that he wrote that “piece of paper.” My readers know that I don't mention names of army chiefs. This “he” refers to the former one.
I believe that civilian accountability will lead to more and more contact between the military and the civilian population, be they judges, prosecutors and complainants or advocates, journalists and advisers. This will improve the language skills of military personnel. We will certainly have a future generation of more intellectually developed military officers, thanks to this law.
This is only for the good of the military. Therefore I strongly support the call of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the opposition leader: “Take your hands off the military!”
