The Federalist: Islamist Coup in Turkey

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Islamist Coup in Turkey

Chief of Staff General Işık Koşaner resigns.

The military brass, excluding the head of the gendarmarie, has resigned following a decision by
top general Koşaner (L). DAILY NEWS photo,

173 on-duty and 77 retired military officials are behind bars

The chief of General Staff and the commanders of the Land Forces, Air Forces and Naval Forces quit their posts days before the Supreme Military Council

About two-thirds of the seats in the Turkish Parliament are held by the ruling Islamic political party. There has been a tightening the party's grip on the nation. Newspaper reporters have been arrested and the party wants to re-write the constitution to create a strong Presidential system. The attacks on the secular state have turned to the military which has acted to be the protector of the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the secular Republic of Turkey.

The future of a secular Turkey, and even a democratic Turkey, is in doubt.

Turkey’s military command echelon resigned late Friday from their posts amid an ongoing spat with the government over the growing number of arrested generals. The mass resignations, which marked a first in the country’s history, immediately caused a state crisis.

Hours after Turkey’s entire military echelon, including the Chief of the General Staff, resigned from their posts in a reaction to civilian rulers, the government appointed Gendarmerie Forces Commander Gen. Necdet Özel late Friday as the land forces commander, in a move to end the crisis as swiftly as possible.

Özel is likely to become the country’s top soldier over the weekend as well reports Hurriyet Daily News.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Founder of a secular modern Turkey that
is now in danger from an Islamic revolution.

Özel was the only commander who did not accompany Chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner in his resignation. After Koşaner and the land, air and navy commanders quit their posts Friday afternoon, Özel met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Prime Ministry. After the meeting, the pair went to the Presidency to meet with President Abdullah Gül to discuss the developments and formulate a solution to the crisis.

According to Turkish law, chiefs of the General Staff are appointed from among force commanders by the president upon the request of the prime minister. To be eligible for appointment, Özel was first appointed as land forces commander late Friday. Özel’s appointment as chief of the General Staff, meanwhile, is likely to be announced in the Official Gazette over the weekend.

The government’s aim was to fill the emptied seats over the weekend so as to hold the Supreme Military Council, or YAŞ, meeting Monday. The council meets annually between Aug.1 and 4 to decide on the promotions of high-ranking officers to key posts.

After his appointment as chief of the General Staff, Özel will likely propose military figures to be appointed as the new forces commanders in time for Monday’s YAŞ meetings.

The tension between the government and the military has deepened with the continual arrests of senior military officers on charges of having links with alleged terror organizations that allegedly aimed to topple the government. The government insisted that these officers be forced to retire, causing fury among the top military brass. The most senior of the jailed group is four-star Gen. Bilgin Balanlı, head of Turkey’s military academies, who had been in line to become air force commander this year. He was detained in May.

In his farewell message to the military, Koşaner made it clear that his resignation was the result of this campaign. He read a very emotional text to dozens of senior officers at the military headquarters containing indirect accusations against civilian officials.

Underlining that 173 on-duty and 77 retired military officials were behind bars on charges he described as incompatible with the universal principles of law, Koşaner complained that government officials had not found a solution to the problem.

Mustafa Kemal commanding Libyan fighters against Italian occupation in 1911.

“Along with losing their freedom, 14 general-admirals and 58 colonels lost their right to be evaluated in the upcoming Supreme Military Council and were punished beforehand even though there have been no definitive judicial decisions against them,” he said.

Emphasizing that the smear campaign against the military was attempting to portray it as a criminal gang through one-sided media coverage, Koşaner said there was no room left for him to do his duty and protect his personnel’s rights against the smear campaign.

Koşaner also complained of government officials’ ignorance in listening to the military’s appeals.

A pre-election pro-secular rally in Turkey.

“I am here to defend my country,” said Yuksel Uysal, a teacher. “I am here to defend Ataturk’s revolution.”

Demonstrators wave Turkish flags during a 2007 pro-secular rally in Izmir, Turkey. An estimated 1.5 million Turks demonstrated on the seafront of Turkey's third-largest city, fearful that the Islamic-rooted government is conspiring to impose religious values on society. The rally followed similar demonstrations in Ankara and Istanbul.

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