Here is a short but useful summary of a forthcoming report on Turkish civilian-military relations commissioned by the
Centre for European Security Studies. (Scroll down to page 5 of the newsletter.) The report is authored by Asst. Prof. Nil Şatana of Bilkent University. She argues that
The constitutional and practical changes in civilian control and parliamentary oversight indicate that the military’s involvement in politics has diminished since 2001. [...] The struggle for political survival and clientelism [long] stifled democratisation. In the absence of a strong engagement by local stakeholders, EU accession, supported by the Turkish military, has become a major drive for social and political transformation.
Today, Turkish society refuses to accept military trustee-ship. Civilians in politics are expected to control defence policy-making.
