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After the Failed Military Coup: The Need for the Organizational Reform in the Turkish Military

Year 2019, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 55 - 68, 02.01.2019
https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.428313

Abstract

The
failed military coup of July 15, 2016, led by the Fetullah Terrorist
Organization (FETO), indicates that military reform in Turkey at the
operational level needs to be re-considered as an extremely urgent issue. The Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) governments have made very notable structural
changes in the military and have tried to control the military politically and
organizationally. The need for military reform in Turkey derives from two
primary reasons: the tendency of coup action and the need to improve the
military’s effectiveness. This article highlights the importance of reforms actualized
at the strategic level during the Justice and Development Party era.  It also points out the need for
organizational reform in the military; reform which should be done by the
civilian government in order to cope with challenges.

References

  • Akça, İsmet. Türkiye’de Askeri-İktisadi Yapı: Durum, Sorunlar, Çözümler [Military-Economic Structure in Turkey: Situation, Problems, Solutions]. İstanbul: TESEV Publications, 2010. Altunışık, Meliha Benli. “Turkey’s Security Culture and Policy towards Iraq.” Perceptions 12 (2007): 69-88. Armutçu, Oya, and Bülent Sarıoğlu. “YAŞ’ın terfi ve emeklilik işlemleri yargı denetimi dışı [YAŞ’s promotion and retirement procedures are not subject to judicial review].” Hürriyet, March, 20, 2011. Accessed May 10, 2017. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yas-in- terfi-ve-emeklilik-islemleri-yargi-denetimi-disi-17321142. Aydınlı, Ersel, Nihat Ali Özcan, and Doğan Akyaz. “The Turkish Military’s March Toward Europe.” Foreign Affairs 85, no. 1 (2007): 77-90. Balcı, Ali. Dış Politikada Hesaplaşmak: AK Parti, Ordu ve Kemalizm [Confronting through Foreign Policy: AK Party, Military and Kemalism]. İstanbul: Etkileşim Yayınları, 2015. Bilgiç, Tuba Ünlü. “The Military and Europeanization Reforms in Turkey.” Middle Eastern Studies 45, no. 5 (2009): 803-24. Bland, Douglas L. “A Unified Theory of Civil-Military Relations.” Armed Forces & Society 26, no. 1 (1999): 7-25. Cizre, Ümit. “Demythologyzing the National Security Concept: The Case of Turkey.” The Middle East Journal 57, no. 2 (2003): 213-29. Cook, Steven A. Ruling but Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2007. Demirel, Tanel. “2000’li Yıllarda Asker ve Siyaset: Kontrollü Değişim ile Statüko Arasında Türk Ordusu [Military and Politics in 2000's: Turkish Army between Controlled Change and Status Quo].” SETA Analiz 18 (2010): 1-28. ———. “Civil-Military Relations in Turkey: Reflections on Two Notable Patterns of Civilian Behavior.” Turkish Studies 4, no. 3 (2003): 1-25. Edmunds, Timothy. “What are Armed Forces for? The Changing Nature of Military Roles in Europe.” International Affairs 82, no. 6 (2006): 1059-75. Erdağ, Ramazan. “Türkiye’nin Stratejik Kültürü ve Dış Politikada Yansıması [Turkey’s Strategic Culture and Reflection of Foreign Policy].” Akademik İncelemeler Dergisi 8, no. 1 (2013): 47-70. Feaver, Peter D. “The Civil-Military Problematique: Huntington, Janowitz, and the Question of Civilian Control.” Armed Forces & Society 23, no. 2 (1996): 149-78. Hänggi, Heiner. “Conceptualising Security Sector Reform and Reconstruction.” In Reform and Reconstruction of the Security Sector in Reform and Reconstruction of the Security Sector, edited by Bryden, Alan and Heiner Hänggi, 1-11. Verlag Münster: The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces-DCAF Publications, 2004. Harris, George S. “The Role of the Military in Turkey in the 1980s: Guardians or Decision- Makers?” In State, Democracy and the Military: Turkey in the 1980s, edited by Metin Heper and Ahmet Evin, 177-200. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1988. Heper, Metin. “The European Union, and the Military and Democracy in Turkey.” South European Society and Politics 10, no. 1 (2009): 33-44. ———. The State Tradition in Turkey. Hull: The Eothen Press, 1985. Huntington, Samuel P. The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-military Relations. Cambridge and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1957. Güler, Arzu, and Cemal Alpgiray Bölücek. “Motives for Reforms on Civil-Military Relations in Turkey.” Turkish Studies 17, no. 2 (2016): 251-71. Jacoby, Tim, and Alpaslan Özerdem. Peace in Turkey 2023: The Question of Human Security and Conflict Transformation. Plymouth: Lexington Books, 2013. Karaosmanoğlu, Ali L. “The Evolution of the National Security Culture and the Military in Turkey.” Journal of International Affairs 54, no. 1 (2000): 199-216. Kardaş, Tuncay. “Security Governmentality in Turkey.” PhD diss., University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 2005. Narlı, Nilüfer. “Concordance and Discordance in Turkish Civil-Military Relations, 1980-2002.” Turkish Studies 12, no. 2 (2011): 215-25. Pilster, Ulrich, and Tobias Böhmelt. “Do Democracies Engage Less in Coup‐Proofing? On the Relationship between Regime Type and Civil-Military Relations.” Foreign Policy Analysis 8, no. 4 (2012): 355-72. Pilster, Ulrich, and Tobias Böhmelt. “Coup-proofing and Military Effectiveness in Interstate Wars, 1967-99.” Conflict Management and Peace Science 28, no. 4 (2011): 331-50. Quinlivan, James T. “Coup-proofing: Its Practice and Consequences in the Middle East.” International Security 24, no. 2 (1999): 131-65. Reiter, Dan, and Allan C. Stam III. “Democracy and Battlefield Military Effectiveness.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 42, no. 3 (1998): 259-77. Rumpf, Christian. “The Military, the Presidency, and the Constitution: A Comparative Approach to the Weimar Republic, France 1958, and Turkey 1982.” In Heper and Evin, State, Democracy and the Military, 215-38. Sarigil, Zeki. “The Turkish Military: Principal or Agent?” Armed Forces & Society 40, no. 1 (2014): 168-90. Schiff, Rebecca L. “Concordance Theory: A Response to Recent Criticism.” Armed Forces & Society 23, no. 2 (1996): 277-83. Schiff, Rebecca L. “Civil-Military Relations Reconsidered: A Theory of Concordance.” Armed Forces & Society 22, no. 1 (1995): 7-24. Şatana, Nil S. “Civil-Military Relations in Europe, the Middle East and Turkey.” Turkish Studies 12, no. 2 (2011): 279- 92. Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. “Savunma Reformu Raporu” [Defense reform report], 2014. Accessed November 20, 2017. https://www.memurlar.net/common/news/ documents/602402/2014-08-22-savunmareformu.pdf Toktaş, Şule, and Ümit Kurt. “The Turkish Military’s Autonomy, JDP Rule and the EU Reform Process in the 2000s: An Assessment of the Turkish Version of Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DECAF).” Turkish Studies 11, no. 3 (2010): 387-403. Uzun, Cem Duran. “Cumhurbaşkanlığı Sisteminde Yargı [The Judiciary in the Presidential System].” SETA Analiz 192 (2017): 1-20. Ünsaldı, Levent. Türkiye’de Asker ve Siyaset [Military and Politics in Turkey]. Translated by Orçun Türkay. İstanbul: Kitap Yayınevi, 2008. Volten, Peter M. E. “Transatlantic Security, Defence and Strategy: Badly Needed Reforms.” All Azimuth 4, no. 1 (2015): 51-8. Wells, Richard S. “The Theory of Concordance in Civil/Military Relations: A Commentary.” Armed Forces & Society 23, no. 2 (1996): 269-75. Yeşiltaş, Murat. “The Transformation of the Geopolitical Vision in Turkish Foreign Policy.” Turkish Studies 14, no. 4 (2013): 661-87. Zabecki, David T. The German 1918 Offensives: A Case Study in the Operational Level of War. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2006. Zeyrek, Deniz. “TSK sil baştan [TAF de novo].” Hürriyet, July, 31, 2016. Accessed May 20, 2017. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/tsk-sil-bastan-40177172.
Year 2019, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 55 - 68, 02.01.2019
https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.428313

Abstract

References

  • Akça, İsmet. Türkiye’de Askeri-İktisadi Yapı: Durum, Sorunlar, Çözümler [Military-Economic Structure in Turkey: Situation, Problems, Solutions]. İstanbul: TESEV Publications, 2010. Altunışık, Meliha Benli. “Turkey’s Security Culture and Policy towards Iraq.” Perceptions 12 (2007): 69-88. Armutçu, Oya, and Bülent Sarıoğlu. “YAŞ’ın terfi ve emeklilik işlemleri yargı denetimi dışı [YAŞ’s promotion and retirement procedures are not subject to judicial review].” Hürriyet, March, 20, 2011. Accessed May 10, 2017. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yas-in- terfi-ve-emeklilik-islemleri-yargi-denetimi-disi-17321142. Aydınlı, Ersel, Nihat Ali Özcan, and Doğan Akyaz. “The Turkish Military’s March Toward Europe.” Foreign Affairs 85, no. 1 (2007): 77-90. Balcı, Ali. Dış Politikada Hesaplaşmak: AK Parti, Ordu ve Kemalizm [Confronting through Foreign Policy: AK Party, Military and Kemalism]. İstanbul: Etkileşim Yayınları, 2015. Bilgiç, Tuba Ünlü. “The Military and Europeanization Reforms in Turkey.” Middle Eastern Studies 45, no. 5 (2009): 803-24. Bland, Douglas L. “A Unified Theory of Civil-Military Relations.” Armed Forces & Society 26, no. 1 (1999): 7-25. Cizre, Ümit. “Demythologyzing the National Security Concept: The Case of Turkey.” The Middle East Journal 57, no. 2 (2003): 213-29. Cook, Steven A. Ruling but Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2007. Demirel, Tanel. “2000’li Yıllarda Asker ve Siyaset: Kontrollü Değişim ile Statüko Arasında Türk Ordusu [Military and Politics in 2000's: Turkish Army between Controlled Change and Status Quo].” SETA Analiz 18 (2010): 1-28. ———. “Civil-Military Relations in Turkey: Reflections on Two Notable Patterns of Civilian Behavior.” Turkish Studies 4, no. 3 (2003): 1-25. Edmunds, Timothy. “What are Armed Forces for? The Changing Nature of Military Roles in Europe.” International Affairs 82, no. 6 (2006): 1059-75. Erdağ, Ramazan. “Türkiye’nin Stratejik Kültürü ve Dış Politikada Yansıması [Turkey’s Strategic Culture and Reflection of Foreign Policy].” Akademik İncelemeler Dergisi 8, no. 1 (2013): 47-70. Feaver, Peter D. “The Civil-Military Problematique: Huntington, Janowitz, and the Question of Civilian Control.” Armed Forces & Society 23, no. 2 (1996): 149-78. Hänggi, Heiner. “Conceptualising Security Sector Reform and Reconstruction.” In Reform and Reconstruction of the Security Sector in Reform and Reconstruction of the Security Sector, edited by Bryden, Alan and Heiner Hänggi, 1-11. Verlag Münster: The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces-DCAF Publications, 2004. Harris, George S. “The Role of the Military in Turkey in the 1980s: Guardians or Decision- Makers?” In State, Democracy and the Military: Turkey in the 1980s, edited by Metin Heper and Ahmet Evin, 177-200. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1988. Heper, Metin. “The European Union, and the Military and Democracy in Turkey.” South European Society and Politics 10, no. 1 (2009): 33-44. ———. The State Tradition in Turkey. Hull: The Eothen Press, 1985. Huntington, Samuel P. The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-military Relations. Cambridge and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1957. Güler, Arzu, and Cemal Alpgiray Bölücek. “Motives for Reforms on Civil-Military Relations in Turkey.” Turkish Studies 17, no. 2 (2016): 251-71. Jacoby, Tim, and Alpaslan Özerdem. Peace in Turkey 2023: The Question of Human Security and Conflict Transformation. Plymouth: Lexington Books, 2013. Karaosmanoğlu, Ali L. “The Evolution of the National Security Culture and the Military in Turkey.” Journal of International Affairs 54, no. 1 (2000): 199-216. Kardaş, Tuncay. “Security Governmentality in Turkey.” PhD diss., University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 2005. Narlı, Nilüfer. “Concordance and Discordance in Turkish Civil-Military Relations, 1980-2002.” Turkish Studies 12, no. 2 (2011): 215-25. Pilster, Ulrich, and Tobias Böhmelt. “Do Democracies Engage Less in Coup‐Proofing? On the Relationship between Regime Type and Civil-Military Relations.” Foreign Policy Analysis 8, no. 4 (2012): 355-72. Pilster, Ulrich, and Tobias Böhmelt. “Coup-proofing and Military Effectiveness in Interstate Wars, 1967-99.” Conflict Management and Peace Science 28, no. 4 (2011): 331-50. Quinlivan, James T. “Coup-proofing: Its Practice and Consequences in the Middle East.” International Security 24, no. 2 (1999): 131-65. Reiter, Dan, and Allan C. Stam III. “Democracy and Battlefield Military Effectiveness.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 42, no. 3 (1998): 259-77. Rumpf, Christian. “The Military, the Presidency, and the Constitution: A Comparative Approach to the Weimar Republic, France 1958, and Turkey 1982.” In Heper and Evin, State, Democracy and the Military, 215-38. Sarigil, Zeki. “The Turkish Military: Principal or Agent?” Armed Forces & Society 40, no. 1 (2014): 168-90. Schiff, Rebecca L. “Concordance Theory: A Response to Recent Criticism.” Armed Forces & Society 23, no. 2 (1996): 277-83. Schiff, Rebecca L. “Civil-Military Relations Reconsidered: A Theory of Concordance.” Armed Forces & Society 22, no. 1 (1995): 7-24. Şatana, Nil S. “Civil-Military Relations in Europe, the Middle East and Turkey.” Turkish Studies 12, no. 2 (2011): 279- 92. Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. “Savunma Reformu Raporu” [Defense reform report], 2014. Accessed November 20, 2017. https://www.memurlar.net/common/news/ documents/602402/2014-08-22-savunmareformu.pdf Toktaş, Şule, and Ümit Kurt. “The Turkish Military’s Autonomy, JDP Rule and the EU Reform Process in the 2000s: An Assessment of the Turkish Version of Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DECAF).” Turkish Studies 11, no. 3 (2010): 387-403. Uzun, Cem Duran. “Cumhurbaşkanlığı Sisteminde Yargı [The Judiciary in the Presidential System].” SETA Analiz 192 (2017): 1-20. Ünsaldı, Levent. Türkiye’de Asker ve Siyaset [Military and Politics in Turkey]. Translated by Orçun Türkay. İstanbul: Kitap Yayınevi, 2008. Volten, Peter M. E. “Transatlantic Security, Defence and Strategy: Badly Needed Reforms.” All Azimuth 4, no. 1 (2015): 51-8. Wells, Richard S. “The Theory of Concordance in Civil/Military Relations: A Commentary.” Armed Forces & Society 23, no. 2 (1996): 269-75. Yeşiltaş, Murat. “The Transformation of the Geopolitical Vision in Turkish Foreign Policy.” Turkish Studies 14, no. 4 (2013): 661-87. Zabecki, David T. The German 1918 Offensives: A Case Study in the Operational Level of War. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2006. Zeyrek, Deniz. “TSK sil baştan [TAF de novo].” Hürriyet, July, 31, 2016. Accessed May 20, 2017. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/tsk-sil-bastan-40177172.
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Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Ramazan Erdağ

Publication Date January 2, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2019 Volume: 8 Issue: 1

Cite

Chicago Erdağ, Ramazan. “After the Failed Military Coup: The Need for the Organizational Reform in the Turkish Military”. All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace 8, no. 1 (January 2019): 55-68. https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.428313.

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