Armenian Reporter, The
03-27-2004
According to the latest news coming from international news agencies and
the Turkish press, the Office of Turkish Military General Staff recently
sent a memorandum to military centers in all districts, governors of all
provinces, mayors of all municipalities and local gendarme units, to
prepare reports and dossiers on individuals who are perceived to be
conducting activities that undermine the state's security and unity. After
Turkish newspaper Hurriyet (Liberty), Milliyet (Nation), Yeni Safak (New
Dawn) and Zaman (Time) broke the news, in a rare statement to the press,
the Military General Staff confirmed that their office had asked provincial
and municipal authorities to "gather intelligence (about suspects) because
it was necessary to make plans to take effective measures against
destabilizing incidents that could harm national security." This vague
statement confirms the fact that, in the past, the notorious interior
security functionaries and bureaucrats, with of full knowledge and
authority of the Military General Staff, conducted arbitrary arrests,
detained innocent citizens and committed political assassinations of
political activists who were perceived to be a danger to the state
security.
ARMY COMMANDER STRIKES
On March 10, 2004, Hurriyet, Turkey's largest newspaper, published a copy
of the document from the Army Commander, which was sent to military centers
and governors asking for information on people who supported the European
Union and the United States, as well as the society elite, writers and
thinkers, members of the freemasons, artistic groups, children of wealthy
families known to have foreign contacts, and members of the minorities
known for their perceived subversive views. According to the Army
Commander, these elements, with their dangerous ideas, could endanger the
unity and territorial integrity of Turkey and Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus.
According to Turkish news media articles, editorials commentaries, the
Military General Staff targeted not only foreigners living in Turkey and
ethnic minorities (including Albanians, Armenians, Bosnians, Circassians,
Greeks, Gypsies, Kurds), but also intellectuals, writers, unionists,
artists and academicians known for their pro-U.S. and pro-EU stands. They
even targeted groups that congregated and corresponded with foreigners on
the Internet.
Pro-democracy, pro-European Union, pro-U.S. advocates, defenders of human
rights and civil liberties were all investigated by the Turkish Army's
Secret Services. The General Staff Office had called for information to be
gathered on those who are trying to accelerate Turkish reforms and
democratization, perhaps at a pace faster than the Turkish military high
brass wishes. Why is the Turkish military hierarchy, who take pride in
portraying themselves as guardians of democracy, trying to curb these
progressive Turkish groups that are trying diligently to accelerate
Turkey's democratization process? They are working hard to improve human
and minority rights, and to reform the legal and court system in order to
adopt the European standards.
CONSEQUENCES OF EU MEMBERSHIP
Commenting on the military's illegal activities, Husnu Ordul, President of
the Turkish Human Rights Association, stated, "Military directives like
this have no place in a democracy." By saying this, he obviously did not
realize that the Turkish military hierarchy is very disturbed that, with
these reforms, they may lose many of their amenities, including investment
opportunities in the realm of the military-industrial complex, tax-free
retirement benefits, bonuses, and, most importantly, the absolute authority
to control the civilian government as well as the daily lives of citizens.
The Turkish military high brass realizes that Turkey's membership in the EU
will terminate their absolute power over the elected civilian government
and will require their submission to civilian rule. They are also having
misgivings about the Erdogan government's effort to reach a compromise on
the Cyprus issue, in order to facilitate EU membership. The military high
brass and Prime Minister Erdogan's government team are obviously having
their differences and there are dissentions even within the senior military
staff.
The general are trying to maintain the status quo, so they are hesitant to
comply with European demands to reform existing laws and human and minority
rights so as to be on a par with European standards. Mr. Erdogan knows well
that, in the past four decades, the Turkish military toppled four
consecutive Turkish governments, imprisoned a couple of presidents and
prime ministers, and even sent Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and Foreign
Minister Fatin Rustu Zorlu to the gallows on the pretext of violating the
Turkish secularist constitution, thereby dishonoring Kemalist principles.
Mr. Erdogan realizes that his and his government's future, as well Turkey's
future, it tied to the European integration process. Several district
military commanders have already reprimanded him and falsely accused him of
pursuing a secret Islamic government agenda in violation of the Kemalist
principles set forth by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - an ominous accusation that
may justify his deposition.
PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN'S MOVES
Prime Minister Erdogan is convinced that Turkey's membership in the EU will
improve his and his party's chances for survival; otherwise his policies
will be under military scrutiny and will be challenged. A crucial report
due out in October of this year will assess whether his country has met the
political criteria required for EU membership. Since coming to power in
November 2002, the Islamic government under Prime Minister R.T. Erdogan has
already taken preliminary steps to dilute the influence of the National
Security Council dominated by the military. It is not farfetched that the
hardliners in the Turkish military hierarchy intentionally leaked this news
of information gatherings and is trying to torpedo Turkey's membership in
the EU due to the above-mentioned reasons and undermine Mr. Erdogan's
government's effort to join the EU. European Union leaders are already
uneasy with these latest developments and are waiting for clarification. EU
leaders have always had reservations about Turkey's qualifications to
become a member and are asking for the implementation of reforms, since
most of the proposed changes so far have remained on paper.
This latest Turkish military memorandum confirms European skepticism that
Turkish reforms are not for real. This military information gathering has
sparked a storm of protest from Turkish lawmakers and human rights groups.
They have accused the military of breaching the Constitution. These
accusations certainly will not move the generals, self-appointed so-called
custodians of the secular Turkish Republic. On the contrary, the generals
will be more determined to fight against perceived troublemakers, such as
advocates of human and minority rights, proponents of integration within
the European Union, and intellectuals having pro-U.S. sentiments.
TURKISH MILITARY AND THE U.S.
U.S. officials, in fact, are very perplexed that the Turkish military would
investigate those who support a close relationship with the U.S. According
to the European think tanks and well-placed Turkish experts, what the
Turkish generals want from the U.S. and EU are economic assistance,
financial investments and technological and military aid to enhance
Turkey's military and economic potential. Yet the same generals are against
imported ideas that will expose the conservative Turkish society to liberal
ideas, leading to a situation where minorities, ethnic groups, human rights
and democratization advocates, religious sects, academics, artists and all
other Turkish citizens will ask for their rights, thus challenging the
authoritarianism of the military high brass and undermining their control
over Turkish society.
Those Armenian groups, both in Armenia and the Diaspora, have to draw
lessons from this and realize that currently only the generals call the
shots in Turkey, not civilians or academics or civic members of
reconciliation commissions.
In order to find a common language with which to iron out outstanding
issues related to Turkish-Armenian relations, Armenians need to take into
consideration the Turkish military factor, since without the consent of the
Turkish generals there can be no real reconciliation between Turkey and
Armenia.
DEMOCRACY MAY COME, BUT WHEN?
One day, hopefully true democracy will come to Turkey. So far, the
experiment of democratization that started in 1980, after five decades of
struggle, still has not gone beyond the level of a "controlled democracy,"
where self-appointed "custodians" of the democracy, namely Turkish
generals, are still arbitrarily deciding what is right or wrong for Turkey.
The fact is that the voices of intellectuals, pro-democracy, and pro-human
rights advocates are getting louder each day and repressive measures taken
by the military are now becoming public knowledge and are subject to
criticism. Short of another military coup, it will be very difficult to
reassert full control over awakening Turkish society and silence citizens
on the grounds of national security.
As long as Turkish intellectuals like Husnu Ordul, Ekrem Akyuz, Mehmet
Altan, Murat Bilge, Nazif Ozturk, Zafer Uskul, Fikret Adanir, Leyla Neyzi,
Soner Cagatay, Halil Berktay, Cengiz Candar, Taner Akcam and others
continue their fight against authoritarianism, the chance to uphold
citizens' constitutional and minority rights and equal treatment of all
citizens in the eyes of the law may one day become a reality. The question
is when.
Article copyright The Armenian Reporter International.
V.XXX
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