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Turkish Daily News , Turkey
Sept 23 2006
Kretschmer blasts military for disrespect of legal order
Saturday, September 23, 2006
'They [the military] consider themselves the guardian of the
fundamental tenants of the Turkish Republic and express their views
on all almost every aspect of public life that they consider relevant
from the perspective of a very wide concept of national security,'
says Kretschmer
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
The top representative of the European Union in Turkey, only weeks
before the end of his mission in the Turkish capital, yesterday
focused on the controversial role of the Turkish military in
politics, with harsh remarks criticizing security organs for having
"played their own games outside the control of the civilian
authorities, disrespecting the legal and institutional order."
Outgoing Ambassador Hansjoerg Kretschmer, head of the European
Commission Delegation to Turkey, delivered his remarks yesterday in
Ankara during the launching of "Almanac Turkey, 2005-- Security
Sector and Democratic Oversight," the first of its kind in Turkey, by
a leading Istanbul-based think tank, the Turkish Economic and Social
Studies Foundation (TESEV).
"The debate about early elections and all the debate about the
modalities [of] how to elect the next president of the republic
reflected, in my view ... a lack of respect for the grand national
assembly and the government," Kretschmer said, in an apparent
reference to debates on whether Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan
-- whose willingness to move to Cankaya Palace is already known --
would be an appropriate president for the secular establishment since
his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has its roots in
political Islam.
'Guardians of fundamental tenants of the Turkish Republic'
"In a democracy the ultimate decision rests with ... the people,
which must have power to define this service. It is they who decide
which kind of state they want to have, which role the state should
play and how much money they wish to pay for security. In other
words, the state is at the service of the people. It is not an end in
itself," Kretschmer said.
"They [the military] consider themselves the guardian of the
fundamental tenants of the Turkish Republic and express their views
on all almost every aspect of public life which they consider
relevant from the perspective of a very wide concept of national
security. Education, religious instructions, cultural rights,
university issues, just to mention a few... These expressions of
[their] views have of course more weight than the legitimate
expression of the views of individual citizens."
In line with the theme of yesterday's meeting, the ambassador,
whose mission in Ankara will finish at the end of next month,
emphasized that civilian control of the armed forces is a key issue
for Turkey's future as well as a key issue for Turkey-EU relations.
"It is an important element in the section of political criteria in
Turkey's accession process," he said.
Þemdinli: 'tip of an iceberg'
Opening his remarks about the Þemdinli case, Kretschmer described
the incident -- in which two noncommissioned officers and a former
member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were involved
in the bombing of a bookstore that left four people dead -- as the
"tip of an iceberg, as indicated by the subsequent confession of a
retired general." He was referring to Lt. Gen. Altay Tokat's
statements in which he indicated that he had ordered the bombing of
state property while on active duty in the Southeast in the '90s.
"Security organs [are] somehow playing their own games, outside the
control of the civilian authorities, disrespecting the legal and
institutional order. The Copenhagen political criteria require
democracy, rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of
minorities, but they also require stable institutions which are
guarantees of all these elements," Kretschmer continued.
The EU has already voiced its expectation that the ongoing judicial
process concerning the Þemdinli case would continue in line with the
principles of the supremacy of law and independence of the judiciary.
The initial prosecutor of the case was sacked after he suggested in
his indictment that Land Forces Commander Gen. Yaþar Buyukanýt -- now
chief of general staff -- was involved in an organized effort to
derail Turkey's EU process.
"In my view, the big challenge for Turkey during the accession
process is to create such stable institutions, able to deliver their
services -- including security -- to the citizens of the country in a
way respectful of democratic principals. Then it can be hoped that
the security organs, the security sector, will be put in to its
appropriate provision as a service provider, fully controlled by the
institutions and indirectly by the people of Turkey," Kretschmer
said.
Turkey, which began membership talks with the EU last year, has
over the past few years carried out a slate of far-reaching reforms
to bring itself in line with the bloc's standards of democracy, many
of them aimed at limiting the military's powers and its role in
politics.
Kretschmer argued that the reforms were "only a beginning" and
asked the government to "show courage" in exerting civilian control
over the armed forces and "exercise its legitimate authority without
the threat of being controlled."
The Turkish army has swayed politics for decades. It carried out
three coups -- in 1960, 1971 and 1980 -- and in 1997 forced the
resignation of the country's first Islamist-led government under
Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan.
The military, which sees itself as the self-appointed guardians of
the country's strictly secular system, also remains wary of the
ruling AKP, an offshoot of Erbakan's Welfare Party (RP), which was
banned after being ousted from government.
'EU insistent on Article 301'
Kretschmer also expressed pleasure over novelist Elif Þafak's
acquittal on Thursday of charges that fictional characters in her
novel "The Bastard of Istanbul" had insulted Turkey's identity by
referring to killings of Armenians during Ottoman rule in 1915.
"To me it's not yet clear whether Article 301 will even be
modified, because there have also been different voices from within
the government," he noted, voicing the bloc's insistency over need
for abolishment or at least rearrangement of the controversial
article which makes it a vague crime to insult "Turkishness."
Erdoðan pledged on Thursday to consider amending Article 301 but
said the issue was a sensitive one.
A rise in nationalism ahead of next year's general elections has
split the ruling AKP over whether to make the change, at a time when
support for EU membership is waning.
--Boundary_(ID_3cygdirwJGtcQ2Gk5PjLrQ)--
Sept 23 2006
Kretschmer blasts military for disrespect of legal order
Saturday, September 23, 2006
'They [the military] consider themselves the guardian of the
fundamental tenants of the Turkish Republic and express their views
on all almost every aspect of public life that they consider relevant
from the perspective of a very wide concept of national security,'
says Kretschmer
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
The top representative of the European Union in Turkey, only weeks
before the end of his mission in the Turkish capital, yesterday
focused on the controversial role of the Turkish military in
politics, with harsh remarks criticizing security organs for having
"played their own games outside the control of the civilian
authorities, disrespecting the legal and institutional order."
Outgoing Ambassador Hansjoerg Kretschmer, head of the European
Commission Delegation to Turkey, delivered his remarks yesterday in
Ankara during the launching of "Almanac Turkey, 2005-- Security
Sector and Democratic Oversight," the first of its kind in Turkey, by
a leading Istanbul-based think tank, the Turkish Economic and Social
Studies Foundation (TESEV).
"The debate about early elections and all the debate about the
modalities [of] how to elect the next president of the republic
reflected, in my view ... a lack of respect for the grand national
assembly and the government," Kretschmer said, in an apparent
reference to debates on whether Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan
-- whose willingness to move to Cankaya Palace is already known --
would be an appropriate president for the secular establishment since
his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has its roots in
political Islam.
'Guardians of fundamental tenants of the Turkish Republic'
"In a democracy the ultimate decision rests with ... the people,
which must have power to define this service. It is they who decide
which kind of state they want to have, which role the state should
play and how much money they wish to pay for security. In other
words, the state is at the service of the people. It is not an end in
itself," Kretschmer said.
"They [the military] consider themselves the guardian of the
fundamental tenants of the Turkish Republic and express their views
on all almost every aspect of public life which they consider
relevant from the perspective of a very wide concept of national
security. Education, religious instructions, cultural rights,
university issues, just to mention a few... These expressions of
[their] views have of course more weight than the legitimate
expression of the views of individual citizens."
In line with the theme of yesterday's meeting, the ambassador,
whose mission in Ankara will finish at the end of next month,
emphasized that civilian control of the armed forces is a key issue
for Turkey's future as well as a key issue for Turkey-EU relations.
"It is an important element in the section of political criteria in
Turkey's accession process," he said.
Þemdinli: 'tip of an iceberg'
Opening his remarks about the Þemdinli case, Kretschmer described
the incident -- in which two noncommissioned officers and a former
member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were involved
in the bombing of a bookstore that left four people dead -- as the
"tip of an iceberg, as indicated by the subsequent confession of a
retired general." He was referring to Lt. Gen. Altay Tokat's
statements in which he indicated that he had ordered the bombing of
state property while on active duty in the Southeast in the '90s.
"Security organs [are] somehow playing their own games, outside the
control of the civilian authorities, disrespecting the legal and
institutional order. The Copenhagen political criteria require
democracy, rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of
minorities, but they also require stable institutions which are
guarantees of all these elements," Kretschmer continued.
The EU has already voiced its expectation that the ongoing judicial
process concerning the Þemdinli case would continue in line with the
principles of the supremacy of law and independence of the judiciary.
The initial prosecutor of the case was sacked after he suggested in
his indictment that Land Forces Commander Gen. Yaþar Buyukanýt -- now
chief of general staff -- was involved in an organized effort to
derail Turkey's EU process.
"In my view, the big challenge for Turkey during the accession
process is to create such stable institutions, able to deliver their
services -- including security -- to the citizens of the country in a
way respectful of democratic principals. Then it can be hoped that
the security organs, the security sector, will be put in to its
appropriate provision as a service provider, fully controlled by the
institutions and indirectly by the people of Turkey," Kretschmer
said.
Turkey, which began membership talks with the EU last year, has
over the past few years carried out a slate of far-reaching reforms
to bring itself in line with the bloc's standards of democracy, many
of them aimed at limiting the military's powers and its role in
politics.
Kretschmer argued that the reforms were "only a beginning" and
asked the government to "show courage" in exerting civilian control
over the armed forces and "exercise its legitimate authority without
the threat of being controlled."
The Turkish army has swayed politics for decades. It carried out
three coups -- in 1960, 1971 and 1980 -- and in 1997 forced the
resignation of the country's first Islamist-led government under
Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan.
The military, which sees itself as the self-appointed guardians of
the country's strictly secular system, also remains wary of the
ruling AKP, an offshoot of Erbakan's Welfare Party (RP), which was
banned after being ousted from government.
'EU insistent on Article 301'
Kretschmer also expressed pleasure over novelist Elif Þafak's
acquittal on Thursday of charges that fictional characters in her
novel "The Bastard of Istanbul" had insulted Turkey's identity by
referring to killings of Armenians during Ottoman rule in 1915.
"To me it's not yet clear whether Article 301 will even be
modified, because there have also been different voices from within
the government," he noted, voicing the bloc's insistency over need
for abolishment or at least rearrangement of the controversial
article which makes it a vague crime to insult "Turkishness."
Erdoðan pledged on Thursday to consider amending Article 301 but
said the issue was a sensitive one.
A rise in nationalism ahead of next year's general elections has
split the ruling AKP over whether to make the change, at a time when
support for EU membership is waning.
--Boundary_(ID_3cygdirwJGtcQ2Gk5PjLrQ)--