According to the daily, a committee from the Court of Accounts recently contacted the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to inform them about an inspection and launched an auditing process. Military expenditures have long been outside civilian oversight in Turkey, which has long been criticized by the European Union. To tackle the lack of any transparent auditing of military expenditures, which is also criticized by the EU, the government had amended the law on the Court of Accounts to subject a part of military spending to the court's oversight.
The new Law on the Court of Accounts, which went into effect after its approval by President Abdullah Gül late last year, has subordinated the Higher Inspection Board (YDK), which audits State Economic Enterprises (KİTs), to the Court of Accounts. Now all state institutions, including the TSK, can be inspected by the Court of Accounts.
According to the new law, the report to be prepared after the auditing will not be subject to secrecy and will be announced to the public. The report, which will first be sent to Parliament, will be made public within 15 days of Parliament receiving it.
It has long been a controversy whether military dining facilities (orduevi), night clubs and canteens in Turkey are being operated efficiently. With this report, the Turkish public will for the first time have the chance to know about such businesses run by the military. If the auditors find that anybody caused the TSK financial loss, a case will be filed with the Court of Accounts and the court will be able to order any military personnel found responsible for the loss to pay compensation.
The original amendments to the Law on the Court of Accounts provided for an audit of all military expenditures, including defense expenditures. However, with a last-minute modification of the bill a significant portion of military spending was again excluded from the Court of Accounts' jurisdiction, which led to much public criticism. The new law still allows inspectors to audit whether resources are used effectively in a state institution and the auditing of military-run firms by the Court of Accounts.
The Turkish General Staff was a strong critic of the new law, which is seen as a major step in Turkey's EU harmonization process despite deficiencies. It argued that the supervision of military expenditure by the Court of Accounts would end the tradition of military secrecy. Representatives from the General Staff previously presented a report to Parliament's Planning and Budget Commission stating their opposition to the proposed changes. The report said the Court of Accounts is not authorized to assess the performance of the TSK and that regulations to protect military secrets should be put place for any audit.
