The Role of the Military in Turkish Politics and European Union Membership Negotiations - by Çağrı Yıldırım

The role of the military in Turkish politics is the central question in the country’s European Union membership process, since one of the crucial political factors stipulated by Brussels for obtaining full membership has been the democratic control of the military.

In order to achieve this ambitious aim, a dramatic reform process for democratic control has been launched. Under the AKP government, the power of the army in Turkish politics has dramatically diminished since 2002. Over the past two years, a number of officers and retired generals have been arrested in connection with the so-called “Ergenekon” case. Prosecutors accuse the network of planning to create chaos through a serious of bloody provocations, thus justifying a coup against the AKP government.

On the other hand, the Turkish general staff denied these accusations. As a result, there is an ongoing power struggle between Erdoğan’s government and the Turkish military. So, in spite of this move by the government, there are serious difficulties in terms of establishing full civilian control over the military due to the strong position of the Turkish military in politics.

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