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New hope for alignment of civilian-military relations in Turkey |
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Tuesday, 10 March 2009Efforts to normalize civilian-military relations in Turkey, a candidate for membership in the European Union, have been revitalized by the planning of a two-day meeting in Brussels between April 2 and 3 to discuss the issue in the context of the EU's enlargement.
* By Lale SARIIBRAHIMOGLU, TZ
In addition to the Turkish participants, representatives from other EU candidates Croatia and Macedonia will take part in the meeting funded by the EU Commission in cooperation with Dutch-based think tank the Centre for European Security Studies (CESS).
Turkish academics and retired military officers are expected to participate in the Brussels meeting, organized in an effort to brainstorm ways for candidate countries to gain democratic control of their armed forces, one of the most important aspects of the acquis communautaire, with which nations must comply if they are to join the EU.
In a related effort to install curricula on security studies at Turkish universities, a workshop was jointly organized in Ankara by Bilkent University and CESS on Dec. 15-16 of last year, in which academics from 16 Turkish universities participated. A follow-up course for the workshop's participants is scheduled for this summer in Ankara, aimed at continuing these efforts of developing security studies as an academic field in Turkey.
There has been a push to promote discussion on military relations in unofficial forums in an attempt to bring balance to civilian-military relations in Turkey. In 2004 efforts were strained when an initiative for civilian-military alignment by CESS and the Ankara-based Eurasia Strategic Research Center (ASAM) -- now closed -- failed after Turkish generals declined to participate in the project due to the politically powerful Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK) strong opposition to the work.
Today the TSK's status of privilege and autonomy in Turkey stands as one of the most important hurdles to Ankara's democratization. The EU emphasized this problem once again in its progress report on Turkey released on Nov. 5 of last year in its chapter dealing with civilians' lack of oversight of security forces.
Recalling that the TSK has continued to exercise significant political influence via formal and informal mechanisms, the report noted that no change has been made to the TSK Internal Service Law and the Law on the National Security Council (MGK): "These define the role and duties of the Turkish military and grant the military wide room to maneuver by providing a broad definition of national security. No progress has been made on enhancing civilian control over the gendarmerie when engaged in law enforcement activities. The 1997 EMASYA secret protocol on security, public order and assistance units remains in force unchanged. The protocol allows military operations to be carried out for internal security matters under certain conditions without a request from the civilian authorities."
Similarly the same report noted that there has been no progress made on strengthening parliamentary oversight of the military budget and expenditures. The parliamentary Planning and Budget Committee reviews the budget for the Ministry of Defense, but the report noted: "However, extra-budgetary funds are excluded from parliamentary scrutiny. The Defense Industry Support Fund (SSDF), from which most procurement projects are funded, is still an extra-budgetary fund."
The workshop in Ankara at Bilkent University in December of last year and the planned Brussels meeting in April are being held against this background of serious deficiencies existing in the alignment of civilian-military relations in Turkey.
Emphasis on educating civilians on security affairs
When the CESS-ASAM-organized project to enable democratic control of the armed forces failed in 2004 due to too much emphasis on the military side of the equation, organizers reacted by shifting their focus to the equally important issue of educating Turkish civilians on domestic security matters.
One of the organizers of the new initiative, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic, told Today's Zaman that they are focusing on the development of security studies at Turkish universities since there are too few Turkish civilian experts on security issues -- ones with comprehensive understanding of all things related, from military doctrine to military budgetary issues, as well as intelligence, internal security and energy security.
Security issues, in general, have always been in the hands of the TSK, discouraging civilian input and preventing those with any power from designing security policies.
In that sense, the Bilkent-CESS initiative will mark an important breakthrough in educating Turkish civilians, said an EU diplomat in Ankara, as it starts at an academic level to discuss security matters while aiming to progress towards normalizing civilian-military relations in Turkey.
Bilkent has long been teaching about security issues within its international relations department, but it has not tackled the issue as a separate discipline. Those working on the new project by Bilkent and CESS are hoping to clear that way for Turkish universities with international relations or sociology curriculums to open security studies departments, establishing an academic examination of this sensitive subject.
Meanwhile, in the Brussels meeting scheduled for the beginning of April, civilian-military relations in the EU in the course of its enlargement will be discussed. Candidate countries Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia will participate in conferences about how civilian-military relations can be addressed, while comparisons will be made among EU member-nations on how they ensure democratic control of their armed forces.
A report released by CESS last July, edited by Anne Aldis and Margriet Drent, titled "Common Norms and Good Practices of Civil-Military Relations in the EU," outlines several areas that a candidate nation should focus on for the democratic control of their armed forces.
Thus the Brussels meeting will mark a fresh start for policymakers in countries seeking accession to the EU, especially regarding their understanding as to which reforms in civilian-military relations are expected of their nations.
The later and second stage of CESS-EU project is aimed at enabling journalists and scholars to track the progress candidate countries are making toward accession. Third is a project regarding public opinion and the defense budget, which is most often linked to insufficient transparency since the general public lacks the high level of expertise necessary to understand budgetary issues.
A legislature's reliability to mediate public opinion depends on a parliament's formal powers but also on its members' crucial expertise and will to exercise their political rights, the CESS report noted.
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Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Journal of Turkish Weekly
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