One of the taboos was broken in the military area, which has partially, if not fully, allowed us Turks to somewhat raise the curtain on the implicit and the explicit practices surrounding the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), which are still powerful in political affairs despite several reforms made since 1999.Despite the emergence of an atmosphere in which attempts have been made to bring the TSK to European standards, there are still serious shortcomings in the introduction of a democratically governed military as well as in the scrutiny of the military budget and military procurement policies.
While the structure and ethos of the military still make it difficult for dissenting voices to be heard in public, some journalists and intellectuals have on various occasions publicly voiced views on controversial issues including civilian control of the military budget.
There has been no realization yet among the public in general and in Parliament in particular that open debate on military issues will not only be for the good of the nation but also for the good of the military itself because transparency in the military budget and in arms procurement practices will first help savings in this field, thus paving the way for the generation of financial resources to the right projects.
The citizens of any country will benefit from a defense sector that is accountable to a democratic, civilian authority and subject to the same broad set of rules and procedures as other sectors.
There are three main benefits to applying public expenditure work processes to the defense sector: 1) better understanding of defense policies; 2) greater clarity on the rationale for the level of resources devoted to them; and 3) increased efficiency and effectiveness of defense spending. ("Integrating Defence into Public Expenditure Work," prepared by Nicole Ball and Malcolm Holmes, consultants commissioned by the UK Department for International Development, Jan. 11, 2002)
But due to the absence of accountability and transparency in the management of defense budgets as well as the absence of a broad evaluation of Turkey's security environment on which the key shareholders have reached consensus, it is hard to know what the real needs of the military are.
Such shortcomings in Turkey also hamper efforts over whether substantial savings could be made in the military expenditures through a fair and unbiased debate that will take place between civilians and the military.
Currently, for example, it is impossible to say that Turkey has been using the procurement portion of its military budget for the right projects that should address increased asymmetric threats.
In fact this issue was raised by a deputy during discussions over the budget of the Defense Ministry at Parliament's Planning and Budget Commission held on Nov. 2.
But as a whole, when the military debate at the commission is examined, it can be seen that as usual deputies from all parties, and in particular opposition parties, appear as if they had come from a different planet when it comes to debating in depth one of the country's core budgets; i.e., the military budget.
The EU's latest progress report on Turkey released on Nov. 6 also highlights problems concerning civilian oversight of the military budget.
The report says: "No progress has been made in terms of strengthening parliamentary oversight of the military budget and expenditure. The Parliamentary Planning and Budget Committee reviews the military budget only in a general manner. It does not examine programs and projects. Furthermore, extra-budgetary funds are excluded from parliamentary scrutiny. As regards auditing, according to the Constitution, the Court of Auditors can carry out external ex-post audit of military expenditures and properties. However, the court remains unable to audit military properties, pending the adoption of the Law on the Court of Auditors. Overall, no progress has been made in ensuring full civilian supervisory functions over the military and parliamentary oversight of defense expenditure."
The EU report's conclusions on the military budget section once again remind us that the deputies have even fallen short in exercising their existing rights deriving from the law in the oversight of the military budget.
That situation makes me feel sometimes that the Turkish Parliament, which is supposed to be representing the citizens of the country, has in fact come from a different planet.
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