ANKARA, 3 December 2005 — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government has Islamist roots, expressed unease yesterday about a decision by Turkey’s top military body to expel personnel for religious fundamentalism.
Turkey’s Higher Military Council, which Erdogan himself chairs, decided at a meeting on Thursday to expel four personnel for “lack of discipline” — code for Islamist activities.
The move, though fairly routine in Turkey’s staunchly secular armed forces, comes amid reports of increased tensions between the military and Erdogan’s government.
Decisions of the Higher Military Council cannot be appealed against, but the prime minister and his defense minister have the right to express “reservations” to show they do not necessarily endorse a ruling. Asked if he had made such a reservation at Thursday’s meeting, Erdogan said: “We did, we did.” He made no further comment.
Turkey’s powerful armed forces have a long history of political involvement — they forced an Islamist-minded premier from office in 1997 — but have seen their influence eroded by recent reforms linked to Ankara’s European Union entry bid.
In a short statement confirming the expulsions, the Council said it had reviewed the “recent activities of reactionary elements against the secular republic” and vowed to keep up the struggle against Islamists and separatists in Turkey.
The Council meets twice yearly and regularly announces the expulsion of small numbers of personnel for showing Islamist sympathies.
The Hurriyet newspaper said yesterday the number of those dismissed was smaller than at many previous meetings. It said 12 army personnel had been expelled last winter.
Secularists, including the top army brass, are vexed by what they see as an increasingly Islamist tilt to Erdogan’s comments. He recently criticized a European Court of Human Rights verdict upholding Turkey’s strict ban on head scarf in universities and said the court should have sought the view of Islamic scholars.
Erdogan has also pledged a full investigation of a bombing in southeast Turkey which many blame on elements in the security forces.
A top general has denied media reports that the bombers were acting on orders from senior military commanders.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s transport minister yesterday confirmed that two unmarked private jets registered to a US company had landed in Istanbul but said it was not known whether the jets were actually being used by the CIA.
Binali Yildirim said the plane registered with a company called Pegasustek had flown from Azerbaijan and landed at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport on Oct. 30 and Nov. 15, the private NTV television station reported.
