Promotion and selection of generals breeds tension in Turkey

Other military interventions were the work of junta supporters who had not realized their dreams of finding a place among the top brass. Flouting democratic traditions, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) shapes the future of the commandership by promoting and selecting generals long before positions become open.

Almost every December and August, Turkey witnesses fierce debates over the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meetings, during which the TSK and the government decide on promotions and retirements within the military. The TSK already has its line of succession for chief of general staff guaranteed through 2017 after Gen. İlker Başbuğ retires in August of this year. Such a determination is believed to prevent a junta wing from taking full control of the military, but it has failed to curb the strength of pro-coup and antidemocratic members of the armed forces. The junta wing is known to have worked in recent years to have its candidate appointed as the chief of general staff rather than fighting the democratically elected government.

The practice is quite different from what we see in other countries, where the executive and in some cases legislative branches play a crucial role in determining the head of the armed forces. What’s more, unlike the Turkish model, chiefs of general staff are generally subordinate to defense ministers.

For example the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is nominated by the president for appointment in the United States and must be confirmed via majority vote by the US Senate. In Australia, the chief of the Defense Force (CDF) is appointed by the governor-general on the advice of his or her ministers. The position is a fixed-term appointment of three years and is rotated between the three services (navy, army and air force). The CDF is subordinate to the defense minister.

The president of Russia appoints the chief of general staff in Russia while in Romania, the chief of general staff is appointed by the president after the defense minister’s nomination of candidates -- with the approval of the prime minister -- for a four-year term.

In Israel, the chief of general staff is appointed by the government, according to the recommendation of the defense minister, and is subordinate to the defense minister. According to the Turkish Constitution, the chief of general staff is not subordinate to minister of defense and reports directly to the prime minister

YAŞ appointments not open to judicial review

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) had in 2008 included reforms to make YAŞ rulings open to judicial review in a draft constitution. But after facing criticism from the opposition, the draft was not brought before Parliament. It is a well-known fact that the military interventions of March 12, 1971, Feb. 28, 1997 and April 27, 2007 were all done by generals who supported a junta regime in Turkey. And the May 27, 1960 coup was carried out by colonels who supported a junta regime against then-Chief of General Staff Rüştü Elderhun. The alleged coup plans called Sarıkız (Blonde Girl), Ayışığı (Moonlight), Yakamoz (Sea Sparkle) and Eldiven (Glove) were believed to have been supported by then-Gendarmerie Forces Commander Gen. Şener Eruygur. Those plans were not carried out because of objections by then-Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök. According to revelations in the now-defunct Nokta weekly, former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Bükükanıt and current Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ both opposed coup plans.

Disappointed officers become coup supporters

Turkey’s top military commanders see themselves as self-appointed guardians of the country’s staunchly secular system. And junta supporters are mostly military members who have no hopes left of becoming high-ranking generals in the TSK.

The military has a kind of self-regulating system which prevents most hard-liners from holding important positions. For example, hard-liners in the military such as generals Çevik Bir, Eruygur, Erol Özkasnak, Ergin Saygun, Çetin Doğan and Hurşit Tolon retired after reaching the age limit.

Retired Gen. Bir, who is said to be the architect of the Feb. 28 unarmed military intervention which resulted in the resignation of a coalition government led by an Islamist party, is suspected of membership in Ergenekon. The hard-liners in the military did not want Gen. Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu to stay as chief of general staff because they feared that if Kıvrıkoğlu stayed in power longer, Gen. Özkök, a democrat, would be the next chief of general staff.

Conflict among the top generals surfaced amid a stormy debate in Turkey that culminated with Parliament’s rejection of a motion on March 1, 2003 that would have allowed US forces to use Turkish soil for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Kıvrıkoğlu was replaced by now-retired Gen. Özkök in 2002 as the new chief of general staff, who was obliged to concern himself with the gradual purge of top generals loyal to Kıvrıkoğlu and who played a significant role in legislators’ rejection of the infamous March 1 motion. Kıvrıkoğlu later admitted that he did not want Özkök to replace him as chief of general staff because he was not good enough in the fight against “Islamic fundamentalism.” He hinted that instead, he had proposed now-retired Gendarmerie General Forces Commander Gen. Aytaç Yalman as his successor.