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ARMENIAN EXPERT SAYS UNREST IN TURKEY WILL NOT LEAD TO MILITARY COUP
YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. Ruben Safrastain, an Armenian expert in
Turkish affairs, downplayed today speculation that the ongoing unrest
in Turkey may translate into a military coup to topple the ruling
Justice and Development Party of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mr. Sarfrastian, who is director of the Oriental Studies Institute,
an affiliation of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, said to a news
conference that during the two weeks of unrest the army has not shown
any sign of interest in these developments and neither came out with
no relating political statement.
The demonstrators across large cities protest against Erdogan's
government's efforts to Islamize the country accusing the authorities
of interfering with the lives of ordinary citizens. Prime minister
Erdogan blamed the protests on extremists. During the crackdown on
demonstrators police are using actively tear gas. Several people were
killed and hundreds injured in the riots.
Safrastian noted the possibility of the military to influence the
political life of the country has been severely constrained by the
changes in the armed forces as part of reforms designed to integrate
with European Union and also by uncovering a plot of senior army
officials -the so-called Ergenekon case.
He said changes in the make-up of army officers occurring after at
the end of the 1990s when graduates of religious schools were allowed
to enter universities and many of them later became career officers
has played a role too.
"A substantial part of career army officers were raised in the
Islamist spirit, and senior officers fear that they may not fulfill
their orders against the current government," Safrastian said. -0-
YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. Ruben Safrastain, an Armenian expert in
Turkish affairs, downplayed today speculation that the ongoing unrest
in Turkey may translate into a military coup to topple the ruling
Justice and Development Party of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mr. Sarfrastian, who is director of the Oriental Studies Institute,
an affiliation of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, said to a news
conference that during the two weeks of unrest the army has not shown
any sign of interest in these developments and neither came out with
no relating political statement.
The demonstrators across large cities protest against Erdogan's
government's efforts to Islamize the country accusing the authorities
of interfering with the lives of ordinary citizens. Prime minister
Erdogan blamed the protests on extremists. During the crackdown on
demonstrators police are using actively tear gas. Several people were
killed and hundreds injured in the riots.
Safrastian noted the possibility of the military to influence the
political life of the country has been severely constrained by the
changes in the armed forces as part of reforms designed to integrate
with European Union and also by uncovering a plot of senior army
officials -the so-called Ergenekon case.
He said changes in the make-up of army officers occurring after at
the end of the 1990s when graduates of religious schools were allowed
to enter universities and many of them later became career officers
has played a role too.
"A substantial part of career army officers were raised in the
Islamist spirit, and senior officers fear that they may not fulfill
their orders against the current government," Safrastian said. -0-