ANKARA, 31 July 2003 — The Turkish Parliament yesterday passed a package of reforms to curb the powerful army’s influence in politics, a key demand of the European Union for the opening of membership talks with Turkey.
The package limits the powers and areas of responsibility of the National Security Council (MGK), the country’s top policy-making body through which the generals put their weight in politics, and the council’s secretariat, which is dominated by the army.
Some of the measures have reportedly faced objections from the military, which carried out three coups in the past four decades and in 1997 forced the country’s first Islamist-led government from power, even though the generals have not made any public statement on the issue.
“With this package, Turkey has taken yet another important step on its road to European Union membership. This is an important step for a better democracy and a freer society,” Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said after the vote. The reforms, which also include tougher measures against torture, need the approval of the president in order to take effect.
Limiting the military’s powers is a task of particular difficulty for the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), a conservative movement whose Islamist roots have caused suspicions among the military, the self-declared guardians of secularism in the Muslim nation.
Turkey, the laggard among 13 EU membership candidates, wants to adopt all EU political norms by the end of the year in order to boost its chances of starting accession talks at the end of 2004.
The European Union has often criticized Turkey for failing to properly enact the reforms it has adopted and will be watching closely how the latest amendments are implemented on the ground.
The National Security Council brings together the president, the prime minister, top cabinet ministers and the country’s five most high-ranking generals.
The amendments reduce the council’s monthly meetings to one every in two months and emphasize that council decisions are not binding for the government.
The council’s secretary-general, currently chosen by the army chief from among senior generals, will be nominated by the prime minister and appointed by the president. Civilians will also be allowed to take the post. The secretary-general will be responsible only for secretarial duties, in contrast to his current tasks which include “monitoring” and “coordinating” the implementation of government decisions on security matters.
The bill also enables Parliament to scrutinize army expenditures, though it allows for secrecy in such procedures.
In another major change, the bill classifies the hearing of torture cases as an urgent matter and obliges courts to continue hearing such cases during the summer recess of the judiciary. Other measures ease restrictions on non-governmental groups and public demonstrations and broaden the freedom of expression.
The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) backed the reforms even though it criticized some measures on the National Security Council as excessive and warned that efforts to protect Turkey’s secular system should not slow down in light of the reduced role of the military.
“The army has always been a staunch defender of secularism... Naturally, barracks and politics should not mix, but politics should not mix with mosques either,” CHP deputy Algan Hacaloglu said, alluding to the AKP’s Islamist roots.
