Ihsan Bal Head of USAK Science Committee printable version send your friend

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

It has been seen in some regions that the fight against terrorism has been started too early, when the spring comes. As it is known, the first large scale operation was conducted in the winter months of 2008 in Northern Iraq. It has been understood that the other one was conducted in Tunceli, a province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, in February 2010. Tunceli 4. Commando Brigade Command, which is composed of professional military officers, noncommissioned officers and specialized sergeants, has initiated its first large scale military operation against the PKK in Tunceli. It is understood that the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces) is willing to take the initiative which is in the hand of terrorist organization. It is understood that the main strategy of this leap has been established to bring to an end the superiority of the PKK which is directed to detecting the place, time and target of future crimes with the advanced technology, air supremacy and instant operational intelligence power of the TSK.

The whole commando units, which are composed of professionals, are the key to change in the operation of the war on terrorism. The fundamental reason, being in need of such a commando unit, lies behind the statement of General Chief of Staff, Ilker Basbug, which was made at the Egirdir Commando School in spring 2007. In this speech, Basbug said "Nobody has a tiny doubt about the bravery and generosity of our soldiers, noncom and enlisted men. Well then, why are we professionalizing the military? In order to ensure the sustainability. This is the most important reason.� Thus, in just the year 2007, Basbug promised to enhance all of the brigade commands with professionals who are used in internal security movements and he related this to the continuity of the fight against terrorism and profiting from these experiences. A lot has been understood since that day. While serving both on the peace problems related to the war on terror and also in the international arena, TSK has renewed itself according to mental acuity, technical infrastructure and strategic foresight which were brought by its new tasks. However, the explanations of General Staff Spokesman Metin Gurak indicated that the process initiated in 2007 would be concluded during the period of Ilker Basbug. Gurak asserted that the command units were professionalized substantially in September 2009 and the professionalization of 5 of the commando brigades would be completed within the year 2010.

Well, what does professionalization mean? It is possible to say from the operation of the Tunceli 4. Commando Brigade Command that the doctrine of dominance in the field of counter-terrorism has undergone a big content change. The field dominance doctirine based on the numerical majority that expresses the need to fill with soldiers a whole region that was declared risky during the 1990s is lagging. Nowadays, the priority has been given to the instant operational intelligence. Therefore, the TSK is not shutting down the area with its body; rather its mind foresees surrounding it with high technology and intelligence based on air dominance. This is a paradigm change in the security doctrine of the TSK.

No one has any doubts that the soldiers doing their compulsory military service love their country, but loving one’s country and exercising a profession are different things. Many enlisted man and non-coms gave their lives for this country within the scope of the war on terror. However, this does not mean that we have made the fight against terrorism in a right manner. From this point of view, if the paradigm change of the TSK during the Basbug period is going to be applied correctly, the TSK not only will largely avoid surprise attacks such as Aktutun and Resadiye, but also it will suffer fewer losses. More importantly, it will increase its deterrence. In this respect, we are going to obtain the necessary conditions of the modern world not by being the second largest army in NATO with our superiority in the number of soldiers, but with our skill of building professional units. General Basbug may go down in history as the commander who managed the paradigm change. In this respect, this spring and summer seasons indicate a critical period where the new security doctrine in question will be tested in the field.

Prof. Dr. Ihsan Bal
Director of Center for Security Studies