German NGO to dissect civilian-military relations in Turkey

Conference organizer Ulrike Dufner, a representative from the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Turkey office, said the conference, “Türkiye Siyasetinde Ordunun Rolü: Asker-Sivil İlişkileri, Güvenlik Sektörü ve Sivil Denetim” (The Military’s Role in Turkish Politics: Military-Civilian Relations, the Security Sector and Civilian Supervision), is going to help break taboos in Turkey.

“Institutions established by the military tutelage in Turkey do not exist in any European country. Institutions such as the National Security Council [MGK], the Supreme Military Council [YAŞ], the Turkish Armed Forces Assistance Center [OYAK] and separate civilian and military judiciaries are the biggest obstacles in front of democracy as they are also examples of interference in politics,” she said.

She noted that people on Turkey’s streets would definitely know that İlker Başbuğ is the chief of General Staff of the Turkish military. But this is not the case in Europe.

“If it is not part of one’s special interest area, no one in Europe would know who the chief of general staff is,” she added.

In Turkey’s military-dominated society, she said, it is possible to see marks that past coups d’état left on the society. She recalled that they had previously organized a conference in İzmir when the military issued an “electronic memorandum,” or the e-ultimatum of April 27, 2007, to express its reservations during the presidential election.

“We saw at the conference that participants who had experienced the 1980 coup suddenly felt sick” -- as if they had been traumatized by their past experience, she said.

Regarding Turkey’s process of democratization, she said it is an opportunity for Turkey and marks the end of an era of coups in Turkey.

“Apparently, the government is following a good strategy as the democratic initiative has been discussed at all levels and at Parliament,” she said.

Dufner also mentioned the sins of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as it did not take more steps to change the Constitution of the 1980 military era. In addition, she said, the government should have done more in the case of assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was fatally shot outside his office by an ultranationalist teenager.

She also touched upon the Şemdinli bombing and the government’s silence. In 2005 two noncommissioned officers were caught red-handed by residents of Şemdinli, in Hakkari province, while planting a bomb at a local bookstore owned by a former Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) member. The land forces commander at the time praised one of the officers, saying, “I know him, he’s a good kid.” Four years after the incident, it appears that the two men are still on active duty, despite being in and out of court over the intervening period.

During the process, Van Prosecutor Ferhat Sarıkaya, who prepared the indictment, was disbarred for indicting then-Land Forces Commander Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt.

Dufner also pointed out that some opposition parties in Turkey do not display a democratic stance. She said the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is not perceived as a socialist or leftist party in Europe.

“Our European friends know the CHP as a nationalist party which protects the status quo,” she said. About CHP leader Deniz Baykal, she said he seems to be a dictator who cannot accept the fact that there might be alternatives to him. She added that Turkey needs a democratic opposition.

She emphasized that most civil society organizations in Turkey are under the direction of the military, which uses universities and the media to create an environment suitable for a military coup.

In the conference, to be held Nov. 21-22 at the Larespark Hotel in Taksim, participants will discuss how military control over civilian politics has established itself and how it is changing. Among the participants are writer and academic Ali Bayramoğlu, writer and journalist Cengiz Çandar, socialist monthly Birikim Editor-in-Chief Ömer Laçiner, human rights activist Yılmaz Ensaroğlu, senior advisor to Sabancı University’s İstanbul Policy Center Joost Lagendijk, former diplomat Akın Özçer and journalist and writer Lale Kemal.