Civil-Military Relations in Turkey under the AKP Government
Civil-Military Relations in Turkey under the AKP Government

Summary/Abstract: The review of civil-military relations in Turkey after the AKP took office demonstrates that there is both change as well as continuity as for the role of the armed forces in Turkish political life. In the first era under Chief of Staff Hilmi Özkök, civil-military relations resembled those in liberal-democratic countries. Due to both General Özkök’s liberal attitude and the AKP’s responsiveness to the sensitivities of the military, civil-military relations were harmonious to a large extent. Furthermore, the EU accession process led the military to keep a low profile, giving the AKP a free hand in passing EU reforms, which reduced the institutional status of the armed forces in Turkish politics. The new Chief of Staff, Yasar Büyükanıt, who replaced Gen. Özkök in 2006, adopted a hard-line posture towards the AKP government. By comparison, civil-military relations became tense. Not only was Büyükanıt’s understanding of the persistence of the military’s traditional role in politics a cause for the growing gap between government and military, but also were the two significant elections in 2007 – presidential and parliamentary – responsible for the military’s rising concern about political Islam. During this period the rise in Euroskepticism, which undermined the EU’s role as an actor in domestic politics, provided the military room for manoeuvre against the AKP government.

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