Ten critical years of Turkish civil–military relations (2007–2017)

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Hakkı Göker Önen
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2738

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Ten critical years of Turkish civil–military relations

(2007–2017)

HakkıGöker Önen

Business Research Institute, Ondokuzmayıs

University, Political Science and Public

Administration, Samsun, Turkey

Correspondence

HakkıGöker Önen, Business Research

Institute, Ondokuzmayıs University, Political

Science and Public Administration, Samsun,

Turkey, UK.

Email: goker.onen_fb@hotmail.com

This paper analyses 10 critical years of civil–military relations in Turkey by investigat-

ing a possible civilianisation and the growing AK Party influence in the military. As

has been discussed by Turkish experts via a plethora of works, there have been

unprecedented developments in Turkish civil–military relations during the AK Party's

administration. Yet, recent events—namely, the 15 July attempted coup, the institu-

tional and legal changes instigated during the ensuing state of emergency and

President Erdo

gan's questionable position as both the AK Party leader and

commander-in-chief—require us to reconsider the current status of civil–military rela-

tions. This paper first analyses the relevant theoretical debates in the literature. Sec-

ond, it briefly summarises key events from the AK Party era. Thereafter, the paper

analyses the so-called Fethullah Gülen incident. Lastly, the paper analyses the institu-

tional amendments regarding civil–military relations, examining whether there is an

increasingly partisan influence over the military.

1|INTRODUCTION

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party—Adalet ve Kalkınma

Partisi) was the majority party in Turkey's Grand National Assembly

for 15 years (2002–2017), and during that time, there were various

trends in civil–military relations. The early years of the AK Party's rule

were marked by mutual tension born from the party's Islamic sensitivi-

ties and the Turkish military's rigidly secular ethos. Yet, unlike in the

previous decades, the military's reaction did not extend beyond rhe-

torical warnings or silent protests. In all likelihood, the AK Party's

intention for Turkey to join the European Union (EU) played a role in

this case because a sizeable part of the military considered EU mem-

bership crucial to Turkey's democratic consolidation. Nevertheless,

subsequently relations worsened due to a number of events. The

E-memorandum (27 April 2007) and the Ergenekon investigations

(2007–2010) pushed Turkish civil–military relations to the brink.

According to investigations conducted by the Ergenekon, which is

allegedly a secret, nationalist–secularist organisation, a number of

active and retired military officers, some from the top ranks, had been

planning a coup to overthrow the AK Party government. The follow-

ing arrests, trials and imprisonment of high-ranking officers resulted in

important changes in the Turkish general staff. Disgraced

commanders were replaced by their inferiors, who had been rapidly

promoted because of this national crisis. In the wake of these devel-

opments, civil–military relations appeared relatively harmonious for

several years (2011–2016), and at face value at least, more demo-

cratic. Yet, the coup attempt of 15 July 2016 disproved these assump-

tions and forced experts to reconsider the current status of civil–

military relations. Following the coup, President Erdo

gan tightened his

grip on military affairs: first, by declaring a state of emergency (known

as OHAL) and then by strengthening his position through the presi-

dential referendum of 16 April 2017. President Erdo

gan's current

position as both the leader of the AK Party and the military's

commander-in-chief means that the military directly report to the AK

Party instead of parliament. To analyse how civil–military relations

came to this point, this paper focuses on 10 critical years of AK Party

governance regarding civil–military relations (2007–2017), particularly

focusing on the Ergenekon investigations and their fallout and the

consequences of the 15 July attempted coup. By considering the rele-

vant theoretical approaches in civil–military literature, this paper seeks

to answer whether the AK Party has sought to subordinate the mili-

tary into party politics. To logically answer this question, this paper

investigates two independent variables, namely the Fethullah Gülen

infiltration and the legal amendments in civil–military relations,

Received: 26 April 2021 Revised: 24 July 2021 Accepted: 27 July 2021

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2738

J Public Affairs. 2022;22(Suppl. 1):e2738. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of10

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2738