{"id":1064,"date":"2007-05-10T13:49:44","date_gmt":"2007-05-10T18:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/international-relations\/05\/10\/pragmatism-towards-turkeys-military\/"},"modified":"2012-12-26T21:52:06","modified_gmt":"2012-12-27T02:52:06","slug":"pragmatism-towards-turkeys-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/international-relations\/05\/10\/pragmatism-towards-turkeys-military\/","title":{"rendered":"Pragmatism Towards Turkey’s Military"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past month, worries about foreign minister Abdullah Gul of the AK Party being nominated to the position of President came to a head with over a million marching in Istanbul for secularism preceded by a thinly veiled threat by the general staff of the Turkish army to intervene. The Western medias response was positive towards a Middle Eastern and predominately Muslim nation having large public shows of support for secularism but tempered by the possibility of another military coup to defend this position, leading the Economist to declare \u2018If Turks have to choose, democracy is more important than secularism\u2019. The majority of the reasoning led towards a questioning of the Turkish military\u2019s role, a role that seems foreign to industrialized nations where the military is typically subordinate to civil governments.<\/p>\n

While this speaks to an ideal of a coexistence of democracy and secularism, the reality is that there is popular support for the AK Party that outnumbers the secular opposition \u2013 if elections are to be held in July, they will most likely be dominated by the AK. While this shouldn\u2019t be declared as an Islamist majority or secular minority, the ambitions of the AK Party are unclear in regards to their Islamist roots (to be fair, the majority of their rule has respected secularism and presided over a period of sustained economic development). <\/p>\n

In this predicament, the military shouldn\u2019t be discounted as the self-appointed defender of Ataturk\u2019s secular legacy. The West\u2019s difficulty with its position is obvious: in a global memory bereft of military juntas that turned countries into prisons, the capability of a military to interfere in politics in a positive, progressive manner seems negligible. But the reality is the military has acted as an institution maintaining Western values in a country that is a member of NATO and seeking future membership in the European Union.<\/p>\n

While the Turkish system may not be the best of all worlds, in a region where Hamas in Palestine, Lieberman in Israel, and Ahmadinejad in Iran all attained power democratically, the short falls of an unchecked democracy should be apparent. More importantly, the Turkish military has acted as an arbiter of power and primarily maintained a stable political system while countries around it have welted into Islamic regimes and authoritarian police states. Given the climate of perpetual conflict and chaos in the Middle East, there needs to be a pragmatic approach towards the forces of secularism and modernization, including the Turkish military.<\/p>\n

More Reading & Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

Turkey’s army and the west’s hypocrisy<\/em> by Rageh Omaar, http:\/\/www.newstatesman.com\/200705140019<\/a><\/p>\n

The battle for Turkey’s soul<\/em>, The Economist, http:\/\/economist.com\/opinion\/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9116747<\/a><\/p>\n

Secularism v democracy<\/em>, The Economist, http:\/\/economist.com\/world\/europe\/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9116841<\/a><\/p>\n

The Military and Democracy in Turkey<\/em>, http:\/\/www.theglobalist.com\/DBWeb\/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=1982<\/a><\/p>\n

Turkey<\/em>, http:\/\/obsidianwings.blogs.com\/obsidian_wings\/2007\/05\/turkey.html<\/a><\/p>\n

AYAAN HIRSI ALI COMMENTARY: Can Secular Turkey Survive Democracy?<\/em>, http:\/\/bookerrising.blogspot.com\/2007\/05\/ayaan-hirsi-ali-commentary-can-secular.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past month, worries about foreign minister Abdullah Gul of the AK Party being nominated to the position of President came to a head with over a million marching in Istanbul for secularism preceded by a thinly veiled threat by the general staff of the Turkish army to intervene. The Western medias response was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[259],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPragmatism Towards Turkey's Military - Prose Before Hos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the past month, worries about foreign minister Abdullah Gul of the AK Party being nominated to the position of President came to a head with over a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/international-relations\/05\/10\/pragmatism-towards-turkeys-military\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pragmatism Towards Turkey's Military - Prose Before Hos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the past month, worries about foreign minister Abdullah Gul of the AK Party being nominated to the position of President came to a head with over a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/international-relations\/05\/10\/pragmatism-towards-turkeys-military\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prose Before Hos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-05-10T18:49:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-12-27T02:52:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"International Relations\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pbhnetwork\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pbhnetwork\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"International Relations\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/international-relations\/05\/10\/pragmatism-towards-turkeys-military\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/international-relations\/05\/10\/pragmatism-towards-turkeys-military\/\",\"name\":\"Pragmatism Towards Turkey's Military - 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