Professional army starts new discussion in Turkey

The topic was mentioned in recent meetings between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and opposition party leaders. It brought back memories of human rights violations committed by special forces deployed in the region in the 1990s. The government says, however, that the context is completely different and that the professional force would be operating under civilian authority. Prime Minister Erdoğan mentioned efforts to establish a professional army or force to combat terrorism at the border with Iraq, where outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members are infiltrating Turkey.

The details of the future special unit are not yet clear, but it will be based on “flexible” professional soldiers who will serve at the border for five to 10 years and then later will be appointed as civil servants.

For the time being the borders and the areas close to the borders are guarded by regular conscripts who are doing their compulsory military service. Critics have condemned the practice of sending young men to the border after only a couple of months' training since when they engage in armed clashes with terrorists they are often ineffective and lose their lives.

Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül told reporters efforts to establish a new professional military presence in the Southeast were continuing. He said that the chief of General Staff is working on the project while the Defense Ministry is taking care of the legal aspects of it in order to find out whether a new law will be needed for the establishment of the new unit. Gönül added that the chief of General Staff is determining how this unit will be established, where it should be trained and for how long.

Sedat Laçiner, from the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), said that when a young man who is doing compulsory military service is killed the whole society is terrorized.

“The whole army should not be organized for combating terror. This new future unit should not be organized within the army's chain of command but should be out of the conventional army mentality,” he told Today's Zaman.

According to him, for success this new unit should be managed by civilians, either by the Prime Ministry or by the Undersecretariat of Public Security.

“It should be administered by civilians because it is difficult for the army to see its own chronic mistakes. It will be easier for the civil administration to see these mistakes and correct them,” Laçiner said.

According to Laçiner, in the past special units to combat terrorism made mistakes and violated human rights, but this does not mean that the new future unit will repeat the same mistakes or act outside the limit of the law.

“To think that professionals will automatically act unlawfully is wrong. It should be organized in a way that any action which is unlawful should be punished immediately,” Laçiner underlined.

But Sezgin Tanrıkulu, the former chairman of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, raised some doubts about the future unit and recalled that in the past, the special units designated to combat terrorism left many human rights violations behind.

“When the atmosphere of hatred is as high as it is today, I am not sure if the professionals will be able to act within the scope of the law. The mentality of ‘saving the country,' whatever the cost, is very strong, and this mentality perceives all kinds of acts as legitimate,” he told Today's Zaman.

Tanrıkulu also raised some questions regarding the mentality of establishing a professional unit. He said that a professional army has to be discussed in detail because it is a huge structural change but that the discussions about it are limited within the framework of the Kurdish question. “This makes me think that the problem will continue to be evaluated as a security issue rather than being about democratization. This approach is worrisome to me,” he said.

Opposition skeptical about professional army against terror

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has begun to meet with leaders of opposition parties to discuss the government's counterterrorism plans, which includes building a professional army, but opposition members have evinced a critical stance.

In his meeting with Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Masum Türker yesterday, Erdoğan explained the government's plan to fight terrorism under four main headings. Erdoğan explained that the government intended to implement its professional army project, which includes having trained professional units protect the borders. According to the plan, these units would comprise soldiers who would protect the border and patrol the mountains for five to 10 years, after which they would receive compensation and be given a job in the public sector.

Türker offered recommendations to the government, noting that it is very important to ensure that any future professional army does not overstep the law when carrying out its duties. "Formations similar to the Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counterterrorism Organization [JİTEM] should not be allowed," he said.

After details of the meeting between Erdoğan and Türker were disclosed, journalists asked Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül, who was welcoming Pakistani Defense Minister Ahmad Mukhtar, to comment on plans to build a professional army.

"The General Staff is working on this project. I have not received the General Staff's plans, but our ministry is working on the legal aspects," Gönül said, noting that they are trying to figure out if they can resolve the issue with current legislation or if new legislation will be needed. "As for the military aspect, such as how they will be formed, how they will be trained, how long it will take us to train them and in what institutions they will be trained, these are matters that the General Staff is working on," the minister said. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Chairman Mehmet Şandır said the prime minister appears confused when it comes to building a private army to fight terrorism and that he was confusing the public as well.

Noting that the EU had wanted to participate in border inspections in Turkey's south on the day of Nov. 3, 2005, when negotiations first started, Şandır said: "Egemen Bağış used the army setup in America to ensure security between the US and Mexico as an example and mentioned building a professional army to counter terrorism in Turkey. Then on May 26, 2010, the prime minister's circular on protecting the border with professional units was published in the Official Gazette. This is an EU project." Noting that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have 25 years of experience in counterterrorism, Şandır said the prime minister was making this kind of proposal at an unfortunate time because the government had not taken the necessary steps to counter terrorism and because the political determination to fight terrorism had not been shown.

Noting that they want all necessary steps to fight terrorism and to end terrorist attacks to be taken, Şandır said: “We want Turkey to take the necessary action against separatist terrorism using its own resources. We want a strategic plan of precautionary measures to be prepared, an effective deterrent policy to be developed and, if necessary, temporary security areas to be developed in the north of Iraq by way of a land operation.

“We request that effective measures be taken against institutions and states that support ethnic terrorism from abroad and a state of emergency to be declared to be able to cut off the domestic legs of separatist terrorism.

“We requested that the political ruling power give up its Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] initiative and put forward a determined stance in fighting terrorism. We presented all this to the president. “Without fulfilling these demands, Turkey's efforts to build a professional army outside of the TSK and in line with EU demands are inappropriate, insincere and lacking seriousness. The MHP believes Turkey needs to get rid of ethnic separatist terrorism using its own resources and with the support of the TSK.” İstanbul Today’s Zaman with wires