TURKEY AND THE ARMY

New York Times
mon2.html
March 8 2010

The recent arrest or detention of dozens of Turkish military officers
for alleged coup plotting could signal a significant shift in power
from the tarnished army to civilian leadership. These cases could
help strengthen Turkish democracy — provided the government and the
judiciary scrupulously apply the rule of law.

For most of modern Turkey’s history, the army has been dominant,
and far too willing to use any means to keep Turkey a secular,
Western-oriented state. That included overthrowing four democratically
elected governments since 1960. As recently as 2007, the military
tried to block the selection of Abdullah Gul of the Islamic-influenced
Justice and Development Party (A.K.P.) as president largely on the
ground that his wife wore an Islamic headscarf.

The military’s hold on political life has weakened steadily under
A.K.P. rule and pressure from the European Union, which has insisted
that as part of Ankara’s bid for membership, the military must become
more accountable to civilian leaders.

The recent detentions and arrests came after a small independent
newspaper, Taraf, published what it said were military documents
from a 2003 meeting describing preparations for a coup. The military
acknowledged the meeting but said it was focused only on protecting
the country from external, not domestic, threats. Since the arrests,
the military’s top leaders have shown welcome restraint.

Meanwhile, relations with the United States hit a new rut on
Thursday when the House Foreign Affairs Committee denounced the
World War I mass killings of Armenians as genocide. We think the
resolution was unnecessary, just as Ankara’s denial of that tragedy is
self-destructive. Instead of threatening Washington with retaliation
for the vote, Ankara should focus on getting a normalization deal
with Armenia back on track.

The United States and other Western countries need to keep nudging
Turkey forward while keeping the hope of E.U. membership alive and
credible.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan needs to curb his own autocratic
tendencies and push for replacing the military-imposed constitution
with one that enshrines rights for Kurds and other minorities,
religious and press freedoms, a commitment to secular rule and a
law-based judiciary. And Turkey’s military leaders need to continue
exercising restraint.