A subcommittee under the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission began debating the bill proposed by ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group deputy chairmen on Wednesday. The bill proposes financial auditing of the military and assessment of its performance by the Court of Accounts. Representatives from the General Staff at the meeting presented a report stating their grounds for opposition and proposing changes to the bill.
The report said the Court of Accounts is not authorized to assess the performance of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and that a regulation that would protect the military’s secrecy should be put into practice for any financial auditing. “Efficiency and economy, which are the essence of performance auditing, cannot be sought at the same time in the TSK’s auditing. This situation is in contradiction with the spirit of defense services. The performance of the TSK can only be overseen by military personnel who are competent in this field. The efficiency and effectiveness of the armed forces can be ensured with education. The efficiency of the education is measured by drills. The efficiency of the drills can only be assessed by professional military experts,” the report said.
The General Staff also said, regarding an article in the bill proposing Court of Accounts oversight of military facilities such as military clubs, canteens, museums and orduevis (dining facilities for members of the military), that the court cannot audit these nonprofit establishments.
An article in the bill that decrees that the Court of Accounts must oversee military inventories was also criticized by the General Staff on the grounds that this would harm national security as it would make information on these inventories public. “As state property under the TSK is related to national security, oversight by the Court of Accounts could pave the way for exposing information on this property and thus harming our national security while on the other hand it would be beneficial for a foreign country. In this regard, oversight that would ensure the security of information, documents, material and facilities such as submarines, ships, missiles, weapon systems and the locations of troops should be conducted.”
The General Staff’s proposals are expected to be discussed in the subcommittee’s future meetings.
