More steps needed to cement civilian control of military

This year’s Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting marked a rare occurrence for Turkey because the superiority of the civilian will over the military in shaping the TSK’s command echelon was confirmed, raising hopes for the beginning of a process of normalization in the country’s unbalanced civilian-military relations.

Considering that Turkey has witnessed three military takeovers and many indirect military interventions, the European Union candidate is far from meeting the standards of the 27-nation bloc. Experts think the civilians’ showdown with YAŞ should be followed by more courageous steps to normalize the unsettled relations.

Speaking to Sunday’s Zaman, Professor Berat Özipek said the government’s strict stance during the YAŞ meeting and the subsequent controversy over the two top military posts should be seen as a first step in the normalization process. “Turkey still has a long way to go before its civilian-military relations comply with the standards of other democratic countries. One leg of this process is making changes to the legal structure of the command line such as having the chief of General Staff answerable to the Ministry of Defense rather than the prime minister. The representatives of the people should be superior to the military in practice as well as in law,” he said. The fact that civilian-military relations are problematic in Turkey manifests itself best in Turkey’s protocol hierarchy. According to protocol practices in Turkey, chiefs of General Staff come before defense ministers. The hierarchy starts with the president and moves on to the parliament speaker, the prime minister and then the chief of General Staff. The General Staff comes before the judiciary and the political hierarchy. The chief of General Staff is the fourth person while Cabinet ministers, including the defense minister, are ranked 10th in the Turkish protocol list.

There is no protocol in the world like that of Turkey. In the US, for example, the top military commander ranks 48th on the official protocol list. In Spain, he or she ranks 33rd and in Italy 25th. The top military commander ranks 22nd in Australia, 17th in France and seventh in Israel.

In NATO’s protocol hierarchy, defense ministers come before chiefs of General Staff. Usually, chiefs of General Staff are responsible to defense ministers and appear much later in the protocol order. The difference between the protocol in Turkey and the protocol implemented in the rest of the world became crystal clear earlier this year when defense ministers and chiefs of staff from NATO member countries met, reportedly due to the protocol adhered to during the meeting.

Analysts say this year’s YAŞ, which ended on Aug. 4, was a landmark for Turkey’s efforts to put the military back in its place as the government for the first time exercised its rights according to law despite established military tradition, which saw nothing wrong with the appointment of controversial figures to higher ranks. According to Star daily columnist Ergun Babahan, a new tradition began in Turkey on Aug. 4. “The politicians have the last say in YAŞ. The government is able to bring an admiral or an air forces commander to the helm of the military and it can also make any change it sees necessary to the command echelon. This is how it is in all Western democracies,” he wrote in one of his recent columns.

Noting that Turkey came to this point after an 80-year-long maturation period, Babahan says the current point is of crucial importance but that there is still much left to be done. “What should be done now is a review of all laws that enable the military to have a privileged position in the public. The groundwork for a really democratic system must be laid,” he added.

Laws are clear on civilian supremacy

This year’s YAŞ was scene to a rift between the civilian and military wings of the council on the case of 11 coup suspect generals and 1st Army Corps Commander Gen. Hasan Iğsız. The general was called to testify in a probe into the Ergenekon terrorist organization and was also charged with plotting to overthrow the government. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan openly refused to put his signature to any decisions to promote the generals, and the controversial officers were in the end not promoted.

Since no one was appointed to the position of land forces commander, Gen. Işık Koşaner, the current land forces commander, could not be appointed as the new chief of General Staff, although his promotion was almost certain. After eight days of tense debates between the military and the civilian government, Gen. Erdal Ceylanoğlu was appointed to head Turkey’s land forces and Gen. Koşaner was named the next chief of General Staff, which came as a result of the government’s determined stance.

Some argue that the government “intervened” in the established traditions of the military during this year’s YAŞ meetings. Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was one of them. Commenting on the standoff between the military and the government, he said on Aug. 3 that that the military has its traditions in promoting military officers and that politicians should not intervene in the process.

However, laws regulating the TSK and the Constitution give the government a decisive role in the appointment and promotion of officers, while the top military brass’ appointment list is ultimately only a suggestion.

What surprised many during this year’s YAŞ is that in Turkey there has long been a tradition of top commanders determining the command echelon of the military and the civilian body merely rubber-stamping it without any objection. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government for the first time used the rights granted to it by law to oppose the promotion of officers who were implicated in coup plots against the government.

More structural changes needed

Retired military judge Ümit Kardaş has some fears that the government will not be able to move on in taking steps to normalize civilian-military relations. Noting that it is obvious that there was a civilian intervention in the council’s decisions, he said there should be more comprehensive structural reforms. “For example, the General Staff should be made subordinate to the Ministry of Defense. But it seems that the government will refrain from this, saying this [YAŞ showdown] was already a huge step,” he told Sunday’s Zaman.