[NEWS ANALYSIS]
Military-police dialogue raises hope for effective security cooperation

In the midst of press reports that top commanders were not present at a ceremony held lately by the security directorate, Turkish Chief of General Staff General Yaşar Büyükanıt paid on 11 April a publicised visit to Köksal during which he told to the press that "We (military and police) are very closely related to each other."

This has been seen as an attempt by the Turkish military to prove wrong the press speculations that a row existed between the military-controlled Gendarmerie General command (JGK) and the civillian controlled police forces though both are responsible for securing domestic law and order in the country. Büyükanıt's visit to Köksal is followed by a visit paid by Gen. Ergin Saygun, Deputy Commander of the Turkish General Staff on 11 May as well as Gen. İlker Başbuğ, the Land Forces Commander on 14 May. In between, Navy Forces Commander Admiral Yener Karahahoğlu, Gendarmerie General Commander Gen. Işık Koşaner as well as the Coast Guard Commander Admiral Can Erenoğlu have reportedly visited Security Director Köksal.There has been no official announcement of the visits except that the top commanders paid a courtesy call to former Governor Köksal after he took up his new post in March.

But senior security officials, speaking to Today’s Zaman, said even if those visits were portrayed as courtesy calls to Köksal, there have not been any such high-level visits by several commanders’ to the security director in the past.

Some media reports suggested that the top commanders’ visit to Köksal coincided with increased military activity in the country’s Kurdish-dominated Southeast as the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists has intensified.

But such military reinforcements in the region have been taking place almost every year and during the same months, as PKK terrorists resumed their attacks when snow began to melt in the region, this never necessitated top-level military visits to former security directors. In the meantime it is worth mentioning that nowadays there are expectations that the PKK may announce an end to its cease-fire, declared on Oct. 1 last year, raising concerns in Ankara that the terrorist organization may stage large-scale attacks that could force the military to stage a cross-border operation into northern Iraq to pursue the terrorists.

Blurred boundaries

In theory the JGK operates under the Interior Ministry -- in charge of domestic security and public order -- during peacetime, while affiliated with the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in times of war. But in practice the JGK has also been operating under the directives of the TSK during times of peace.

Their budget is under TSK control, while the hierarchical structure of the JGK is supervised by the military. JGK members also take orders from the TSK while fulfilling their internal security duties, bypassing governors and district heads assigned by the Interior Ministry. Similarly the Coast Guard Command (SGK), also in charge of supporting internal security operations, has also been controlled by the military.

The confusing status of the three internal security organizations create serious problems in securing law and order, as has been witnessed in several incidents, including the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in mid-January.

The JGK’s sphere of responsibility is outside that of the police force and lies in rural areas outside urban boundaries as well as in areas lacking a police force. The JGK is responsible for maintaining public order across 91 percent of Turkey’s land surface.

Despite reform attempts to provide full control of the JGK and SGK by civilian authorities, this has not to date proved possible.

If it is to align with EU norms Turkey must establish a non-military border police force consisting of civilian professionals to effectively protect its marine and land borders.

At the moment it is hard to speculate any future possible positive repercussions of the top-level military visits to Security Director Köksal that could pave the way for a closer cooperation between the security organizations, but senior security officials speaking to TZ made the following analysis in connection with a possible enhanced dialogue among the internal security organizations:

The police have been increasingly successful in the fight against all sorts of crimes, including the unearthing of major drug trafficking networks, with the latest one involving the PKK. In big cities there have been increased cases of police-initiated operations pre-empting terrorist attacks. This has increased military interest in the police concerning the fight against all sorts of terrorist acts.

Since the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003, arms trafficking via northern Iraq into Turkey has seen a considerable rise. Glock pistols as well as C-4 and A-4 explosives with high destructive power were seized from PKK terrorists. Some of those arms and ammunition originated with the former Iraqi army and the US. The TSK has mostly been eyeing northern Iraq across the border over the increased arms trafficking. But as police has increased seizures of such arms and explosives inside Turkey, the military has also increased its attention within Turkey’s borders. The police’s hot pursuit operations on the home front have made it clear that it is also important to look inside Turkey.

There has also been increased dialogue between the military and the police forces in the fight against all sorts of terrorist activity. The military’s invitation of many police officers with counterterrorism expertise to an Ankara-based NATO-initiated Center of Excellences in the fight against terror has been seen as proof of the military’s increased interest in cooperating with the police in counterterrorism battle.

In the meantime there has been a considerable increase in the number of publications written by members of the security personnel on all sorts of crimes. The military might like to share in this growing potential within the police force. The visits by the top commanders may also imply their increased awareness of the police’s success.

Top commanders may have also sought to give backing to the security organizations, especially after statements made by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal on Feb. 10, during which he called for a major overhaul within the security organization -- accusing it of trying to put the TSK in a difficult position. Baykal made those remarks following the slaying of Hrant Dink, in which he claimed police attempted to portray the Gendarmerie as the party responsible of negligence. “In all the cases, including Şemdinli, Atabeyler and in Dink’s slaying, those who failed to do their duty (the police) blamed those doing their duty (the Gendarmerie),” Baykal claimed. Top commanders might also have aimed through their visits to Köksal to gainsay Baykal’s claims of a rift. Overall the visits had a very positive effect on the police forces, boosting their morale.