The military and civilian members of the council were expected to mainly discuss the authority of military courts and the restriction of their authority in the wake of the unearthed military plot and the punishment of those who prepared it, which many expected would create much hostility at the meeting. Nonetheless, analysts say that because of its developing democracy, Turkey is no longer a country where members of the military scold politicians and make decisions to intervene in politics.Sabah's Yavuz Donat expresses his astonishment over the media's presentation of Tuesday's MGK meeting as “critical,” noting that he has difficulty understanding why some media outlets keep insisting on the criticality of the meeting. “The Constitution changed; the law on the secretariat-general of the MGK changed. The authority and the position of the MGK were changed. So, where does this criticality come from?” he asks. Donat says today's MGK meetings are not like the MGK meetings of the Feb. 28, 1997 postmodern coup process, during which members of the military rebuked the government and intervened in politics following the meeting. “If an alien had come to Ankara on Tuesday, if he had understood Turkish and could watch Turkish TV stations, he would think: There is a long table in Çankaya presidential palace. There are civilians on one side of it and the military on the other side, and they are fighting. And there is a civilian with the title of ‘commander in chief' between them, President Abdullah Gül, who is trying to calm down both sides,” says Donat.
Radikal's Oral Çalışlar, looking at the comments made on TV and in newspapers about the MGK meeting, says he wonders why a meeting attended by members of the military is being considered “historic” in Turkey, describing the situation as bizarre. “We will never learn the details of the MGK meeting because they are confidential. It is impossible to understand why this is a confidential meeting. Is it not the citizens' right to learn how this country's politicians and members of the military talk about the future of the country? You will have “historic” meetings but keep their content secret from the public. I can even imagine that some people will defend the confidentiality of this meeting because issues regarding the security of the country are being discussed. How can a discussion on the structure of military courts be related to the security of the country?” asks Çalışlar. He says it is high time for MGK members to stop making such excuses and share the content of this meeting with the public.
Yeni Şafak's Fehmi Koru agrees with other columnists in that Turkey is no longer a country where members of the military can raise their voices against the democratically elected politicians as was the case in the past; hence, he finds the fury over Tuesday's MGK meeting unnecessary. “When compared to the past, Turkey is more democratic today, and we are making fewer mistakes. Our administrators are people who were elected to their posts for a certain period of time. If we think we made a mistake by electing them, we can compensate for our mistake in the next elections. Mechanisms are in place that will eliminate their mistakes, and we do not have to keep these administrators in their positions despite their mistakes,” explains Koru. In consideration of this, Koru says that if the civilian voice was louder than that of the military and members of the military remained silent even though their authority was restricted, this would be because of Turkey's developed democracy.
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