EMASYA to be abolished before anniversary of Feb. 28

The AK Party government has already rolled up its sleeves for the cancellation of the controversial protocol. As Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed on Sunday that Turkey will get rid of the covert protocol, all eyes are now on Interior Minister Beşir Atalay. Since EMASYA is just a protocol, neither a Cabinet decree nor a Constitutional change is required to abolish it. The authority of the interior minister will be sufficient to cancel the protocol as he can do it by sending a circular note to the governors of the 81 provinces. Since the government plans to attach symbolic meaning to the cancellation of the protocol, a product of the Feb. 28 postmodern coup, it is expected to eradicate it before the 13th anniversary of Feb. 28 military intervention, in which the military overthrew the coalition government led by Necmettin Erbakan of the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP). Atalay has been working on the issue for the last 15 days.

EMASYA, signed by the General Staff and the Interior Ministry on July 7, 1997, empowers the military to intervene in social incidents on its own initiative. In accordance with EMASYA, the military can gather intelligence against internal threats. The details of EMASYA have not been officially disclosed, but retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, one of the masterminds behind a recently revealed coup plan titled Balyoz (Sledgehammer), said the Sledgehammer operation was planned as part of EMASYA.

AK Party parliamentary group deputy chairman Bekir Bozdağ told Today’s Zaman that the protocol wholly contradicts the Law on Provincial Administration. Another of the party’s parliamentary group deputy chairmen, Suat Kılıç, also said: “Such a protocol can bring restrictions that are stricter than those brought by martial law. Turkey is not a police state. It is not a state of judges and the army. If we are a democratic state of law, our laws and our acts should conform to this.”

‘Secret constitution to be revised’

The government also plans to overhaul the National Security Policy Document (MGSB), a resolution that acts as a guideline for the military in situations of domestic conflict. The MGSB, also known as the “Red Book,” has been under the spotlight since Prime Minister Erdoğan made a remark questioning its legitimacy last week. The document, which is known as Turkey’s “secret constitution,” lies behind many military interventions as it enables the military to plot against governments. The government plans to revise the domestic threats mentioned in the document. Religious reactionaryism, ethnic separatism and extreme leftist movements are listed as the three most dangerous threats to Turkey’s security in the Red Book. Nationalist and neo-nationalist organizations are also seen as domestic threats. Religious reactionaryism, which was perceived as the biggest threat by the writers of various coup d’état plans that have been exposed in the past, such as the Sledgehammer plan, is expected to be excluded from the list of domestic threats. The government, which shortened the 110-page document to 25 pages in 2005 upon an order by Erdoğan, will shorten the document further.

Parliamentary Justice Commission Chairman Ahmet İyimaya says regarding the nation as a domestic threat is a major error. Stating that all remnants of May 27, 1960 coup; the Sept. 12, 1980 coup; the Feb. 28 postmodern coup; and the General Staff’s memorandum on April 27, 2007 should be eradicated, he said: “If there are still institutional classifications that regard the nation as a domestic threat and, as we see, there are, it is a tragedy for big nations like us. We have to undertake a major reform that will make all of us happy by injecting democracy into all cells of bureaucratic power.”

Article 35 of Internal Service Code also to see overhaul

Another issue that the government plans to deal with in an effort to normalize civilian-military relations is the revision of Article 35 of the Internal Service Code. Article 35 of the Internal Service Code stipulates that the duty of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is to protect the Turkish motherland and the Constitution. The TSK has carried out coups in the past, invoking this article as justification.

The government, on the other hand, thinks that the duty of protecting the Turkish Republic falls to the nation and aims to prevent misinterpretations of the charge to “protect and look out for the republic” by a change to the article. An agreement between Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ and Prime Minister Erdoğan is required for such a change.