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‘Current civilian-military cooperation is not ephemeral’
Ali Karaosmanoğlu, a professor of international relations at Bilkent University in Ankara, said it is evident through the current developments regarding the Kurdish initiative of the government that the military is in agreement with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
Giving examples of past experiences regarding civilian-military cooperation in Turkey, Karaosmanoğlu said they proved to be fleeting.
“There is reason to have faith in the process,” he told Today's Zaman, answering questions at a conference yesterday organized by the Center for European Security Studies (CESS) based in the Netherlands and İstanbul Policy Center (IPC) at Sabancı University based in İstanbul.
The current civilian-military cooperation will not be “ephemeral,” he said, because the international context is radically transforming and the security culture in Turkey is changing.
The military's subordination to civilians is given in a consolidated democracy, but in Turkey he said it needs to be constructed.
“The military should believe that subordination to the civilian government is a virtue. On the other hand, responsibility for a change of mindset lies not just with soldiers but politicians since they should be able to demonstrate that they can lead,” he added. “The present government effectively demonstrates that it can lead.”
In order to accelerate this process of change in Turkey, Karaosmanoğlu stated that the EU has many important structures in addition to civil society institutions, media and universities.
Graeme Herd from the Geneva Center for Security Policy said at the same panel that one misperception regarding Turkey-EU relations is that their strategic cultures do not converge and that the EU does not have a strategic culture.
“The EU has a strategic culture, and it converges with Turkey's,” Herd said. “If the EU wants to be global power partner, Turkey will be a political, economic and strategic asset.”
The rejection of Turkish membership on the grounds of clashing strategic cultures will only highlight the dependence of the EU on non-EU partners, Herd added.
“Turkish rapprochement with Armenia and its constructive role in Nagorno-Karabakh underlines Turkey's pivotal role in this part of the EU's near neighborhood,” he stated.
At the CESS-IPC conference “Changing Relations between the Civilian Authorities and the Military,” which was opened by the senior advisor to the IPC, Joost Lagendijk, Consulate General of the Netherlands Onno Kervers presented the first copy of the CESS publication titled “Perceptions and Misperceptions in the EU and Turkey: Stumbling Blocks on the Road to Accession” to Alp Ay, who represented Turkey's chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış at the event. Ay is the director of the Directorate of Political Affairs at the Secretariat General for the EU Affairs.
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