2009 leaves behind military-civilian relations debate

These developments in military-civilian relations have been major for Turkey, which is trying to join the European Union, but the distance traveled in this regard is also minute in terms of the country’s EU bid. As a result of fast-paced reforms in 2003, important structural changes were made to the National Security Council (MGK), which had been hovering over Turkish politics like the sword of Damocles.

For the first time, a diplomat without a military background was appointed to lead the MGK, and the institution lost a portion of its former functionality. The most major change was actually supposed to give the Court of Accounts auditing power over military expenditures, but that change was shelved after being presented to Parliament three times.

The biggest step toward creating a balanced military-civilian relationship in 2009 was accomplished through a midnight resolution. On July 10, a motion submitted by two deputies from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) paved the way for the trial of military personnel in civilian courts. The change to the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK) also prevents the prosecution of civilians in military tribunals. The developments in the Ergenekon investigation showed just how vital this change was for Turkish democracy.

Turkey owes the ability to make these July 10 changes to the Ergenekon investigation, because on Jan. 7, 2009, as part of the investigation, former MGK Secretary-General retired Gen. Tuncer Kılınç, retired Gen. Kemal Yavuz, retired Col. İlyas Çınar, former legal counsel to the General Staff retired Gen. Erdal Şenel and former special forces officer retired Col. Levent Göktaş were taken into custody.

Despite lengthy debates beginning back in 2008 over whether former Gendarmerie General Commander Gen. Şener Eruygur, retired Gen. Hurşit Tolon and retired Gen. Veli Küçük, who were taken into custody that year, would be tried in a civilian court, the debate gained an intensified meaning with the Jan. 7 arrests.

Turkey succeeds in preventing coups

Another hopeful development in military-civilian relations in 2009 also emerged within the context of the Ergenekon investigation. On April 26, former Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök voluntarily testified to the Ergenekon prosecutors. In his eight-hour testimony to prosecutors Zekeriya Öz and Fikret Seçen in İzmir, Özkök reportedly said, “I can’t positively confirm the existence of coup plans, but I cannot say they weren’t there either.”

While Özkök’s testimony was voluntary, it wasn’t until Dec. 7 that prosecutors subpoenaed other commanders of the same period to add their testimonies to the mix. When prosecutors interrogated former Air Forces Commander Gen. İbrahim Fırtına, former Land Forces Commander Gen. Aytaç Yalman and former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek as suspects, the case was extended for the first time to the “coup diaries.” This was a positive development for Turkey, which has not yet succeeded in putting a coup to trial, but is taking steps in the right direction by interrogating coup plotters.

Hidden weapons turned out not to be ‘pipes’ after all

As part of the Ergenekon investigation, large caches of munitions have been discovered. Light anti-tank weapons (LAWs), ammunition and hand grenades were found buried underground in excavations carried out by police in the Gölbaşı district in Ankara, and on April 24, more LAWs, hand grenades, C3 explosives and other ammunition were found in İstanbul’s Poyrazköy district. On the same day, 25 unsolved murders committed in Şırnak’s Cizre district in the 1990s were found to be connected to Kayseri Regional Gendarmerie Commander Col. Cemal Temizöz. The debate began over why the weapons caches had been collected.

On April 29, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ said in a press conference that the General Staff had no documents related to the Ayışığı and Sarıkız coup plans or the coup diaries allegedly belonging to Örnek. Başbuğ’s aim in making this statement was to deny the existence of a connection between the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the weapons caches. He referred to a hollow LAW discovered during the investigations as “just a pipe.” He said that there were no weapons caches to be found anywhere in Turkey, noting -- in an important confession -- that all such munitions stores had been cleared in 1989.

The general said that 45 of the weapons found as part of the Ergenekon investigation were never part of the TSK’s stores, alleging that they had been given to police as well. However the manufacturer of the arms refuted this claim, proving that they had indeed been delivered to the TSK -- a revelation that seriously put the military’s credibility into question.

Wet signature scandal

On June 12, the emergence of a document shook the very core of military-civilian relations in Turkey. The plot, named the “Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism,” was a four-page document that revealed that the TSK had a systematic plan to damage the image of the AK Party government and the Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to play down the Ergenekon investigation and to gather support for members of the military arrested as part of the inquest. The plan included planting weapons and framing members of civil society. Başbuğ played down the document, trivializing it as a “piece of paper” -- until the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) certified the signature of a military officer on the document as authentic.

Despite the continuation of mixed messages from the military, a letter from an informant within the military’s ranks detailed the creation of the plan, further damaging the military’s credibility in the eyes of the public. In November, the discovery of another plan -- the Cage action plan, which included plots against minority groups in Turkey -- and its connection to the military would cause a spike in this tension. The General Staff chose to remain silent after this development.

A first in Turkish history

December saw another first for Turkey, as civilian authorities conducted a search of a military unit, with a judge and prosecutors entering the top-secret facilities of the Tactical Mobilization Unit known as the “cosmic room” in search of evidence of an alleged plan to assassinate Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç. The milestone search was made possible by the changes made to the CMK earlier in the year. Regardless, the controversial development is by all indications likely to continue to stir debate over military-civilian relations well into this new year.

While the developments of last year bear tremendous consequences, Turkey still has a very long way to go to bring its military-civilian relationship up to European standards. The military’s influence on civilian politics continues, with the e-memorandum of 2007 ahead of the presidential election standing as a strong testament to this fact. The military hasn’t given a green light to full civilian oversight, and the military’s economic power in Turkey remains untouchable.