GENERAL ILKER BASBUG TO OVERTAKE TURKISH ARMY CHIEF POST, AS EXPECTED

Hurriyet
Aug 4 2008
Turkey

Turkey’s Supreme Military Council assigned Land Forces Commander
Gen. Ilker Basbug as the new army chief on Monday and he will overtake
the position from Gen. Yasar Buyukanit on August 30. (UPDATED)

Basbug will fill the post of General Staff Chief for two years,
reaching the retirement age limit in 2010, and will be replaced by
newly-appointed Land Forces Commander Gen. Isik Kosaner. Admiral
Metin Atac will continue to serve as the Commander of Naval Forces,
and Gen. Aydogan Babaoglu will continue to serve as Air Forces for
one year.

The new appointments on the top command line came at a critical time
as the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) just survived
a closure case and faces growing pressure to address both domestic
and international issues.

This is the first meeting of the Supreme Military Council for some
time in which no military officer was discharged due to reactionary
or indisciplinary acts.

The relations between the military and the government are expected
to change as Basbug is seen a different commander to his predecessors.

He thinks it is important to have connections and to establish dialogue
with the government, as well as with other state organs. He also
does not get involved in any debates through the media, excluding
international issues.

The new appointments on the top command line came at a critical time as
the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) just survived from
a closure case and faces growing pressure to address both domestic
and international issues.

The relations between the military and the government are expected
to continue in a different form as Basbug seen a different commander
than his predecessors.

He thinks it is important to have a connections and to establish
dialogue with the government, as well as with other state organs. He
also does not get involved in any debates through the media, excluding
international issues.

KEEPING ARMY OUT OF POLITICS

Basbug is expected to distance the Turkish Armed Forces from
politics. However, it would not be surprising to see him make harsh
statements in the case the red lines of the Turkish Armed Forces,
including the unitary structure of the republic and secularism,
are crossed during his term.

FIGHT AGAINST TERROR

Basbug is very experienced in the fight against terror, an issue he
sees as a priority, and is determined to continue the armed struggle
during his term. Turkey’s operations against the PKK continue, and
the Turkish army will undertake similar operations with determination
until reaching an absolute outcome, he had earlier said.

He is also expected to pay a comprehensive visit to the Turkey’s
terror-hit southeast region to show that he gives much importance to
the issue.

REACTIONARY MOVEMENTS

Basbug sees an ongoing, planned and tireless effort to fray the
revolutionary reforms of Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, and
thinks reactionary movements that threaten the republic have started
to become a cause for concern.

"It is the mission of "everyone who feels he is a member of Turkish
nation" to claim and protect the republic’s basic characteristics
of democracy, secularism, social and rule of law. The Turkish Armed
Forces has always been a party for protecting this body and these
characteristics and will continue to be so… It is a reactionary
attitude to act in a manner against the Turkish revolution… I need
to confess with deep sorrow that the reactionary threat has reached a
point of concern, it is even not accepted by some segment of society,"
Basbug said in the speech he delivered at the Military Academy in 2007.

CALLS FOR COMMON SENSE

Basbug usually adopts an approach to urge for common sense in periods
of high-tension. Recently he held a tet-a-tet meeting with Turkish
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan when the tension over the case before
the courts reached a peak and called on the media not to pressure
the judiciary. He also called for common sense during Turkey’s ground
operation against the PKK in northern Iraq in February.

U.S. PERSPECTIVE

Basbug desires that relations with the United States should be in a
form that protects Turkey’s interests. He has criticized the U.S. in
the past over its slow reaction to incidents relating to the outlawed
PKK; however recent progress between Turkey and the U.S. on this
issue has given him a more positive outlook.

He also prefers relations with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and
Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdish administration in northern
Iraq, be held within a more controlled framework.

REACTIVE AGAINST EU IF NEEDED

Basbug is also expected to maintain his stance towards the European
Union and not hesitate to show his reactions at times he deems
necessary.

NO CONSESSIONS FOR ATHENS

Basbug is not expected to offer any concessions or show a softening in
regard to relations with Greece. Basbug is likely to stick Turkey’s
formal declaration that any attempt by Greece to increase the
territorial waters to 12 miles would be ‘casus belli’. He also is not
expected to support speedy action in regard in relations with Armenia.

BACKGROUND

Basbug, 65, was born in Turkey’s southwestern province of
Afyonkarahisar and is married with two children. He served as an
infantry officer and is experienced in international diplomacy. He
speaks English since he worked in the foreign representatives of
Turkey for more than six years. He is known to be a prolific reader
and closely monitors the world press daily.