Browsing by Subject "Civil-Military Relations"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Open Access
Europeanization, domestic political change and civil-military relations in Turkey
(2007) Karatekelioğlu, Petek
This dissertation explores the impact of the European Union on domestic political change in the area of civil-military relations in Turkey. The history of modern Turkey is characterized by the objective of becoming a full member of the European society of states. For this purpose, Westernization and modernization are the constituting discourses and practices of the modern Turkish Republic. Yet beginning in the 1960s and culminating in the 1990s, the deepening of the process of European economic and political integration has led to serious transformations in the European state system and society. Recent works studying the nature and scope of this change conceptualize this process as Europeanization. According to these studies, the European Union is the main variable triggering domestic transformation in the member states and candidate countries. The impact of the European Union is also strongly felt in Turkey, which is a candidate for membership in the phase of preaccession. This dissertation analyzes domestic political change in the realm of civilmilitary relations from the perspective of the Europeanization approach. The framework proposed to study the Turkish case is intended to contribute to the knowledge of Europeanization and Turkey-European Union relations.
Open Access
The impact of changing civil-military relations on Turkey’s approach to the Kurdish question
(2016-06) Coffman, Kari
This study considers the relationship between democratization and conflict resolution by examining the effect that changing civil-military relations have had on the Kurdish question in Turkey. In addressing democratization, this paper focuses on demilitarization, or the transition of political power from military to civilian control. A significant change in Turkish civil-military relations occurred after 2007, as the civil government averted military threats of intervention in the “e-memorandum.” Demilitarization has potential ramifications for Turkey’s approach to the Kurdish question, exemplified by Peace Process negotiations commenced in 2012 between the Turkish government and PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. The Peace Process signals a major shift from counterterrorism to negotiation as the primary tool of conflict resolution. This thesis aims to understand the effects that demilitarization has had on the attitudes and perceptions of military leaders with respect to the Kurdish question. This thesis utilizes a mixed methods research approach that combines qualitative data collected through discourse analysis and semi-structured interviews with quantitative data from content analysis. This thesis highlights the role of changing civil-military relations in approaches to conflict resolution and counterterrorism by examining the construction of democracy and terrorism in National Security Council (MGK) and Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) press releases from 2007-2012 and from interviews with retired military officials. The findings of this thesis suggest that institutional changes to the political structure of the state contributed to a shift in civil-military relations that facilitated the introduction of accommodative approaches to counterterrorism, which was accepted by military leaders due to normative change in the military’s perception of its role in politics, despite a lack of normative change on issues of counterterrorism strategy.
Open Access
Print media and civil-military relations in Greece and Turkey
(2014-09) Öztürk, Duygu
This study investigates how Greek and Turkish newspapers columnists interpreted and framed military takeovers in their countries after the takeovers had happened. Refuting arguments in the literature asserting that Greek columnists kept their silence during the military regime due to censorship, while there was strong and open support in Turkey among newspaper columnists for the 12 September coup and the subsequent rule, this study argues that the situations in both countries were much more complex than these studies have claimed. Directed by this approach, it focuses on the pieces published in the Greek newspapers Akropolis, iv Eleftheros Kosmos, and Ta Nea during the first six months of the military interregnum (after the 21 April 1967 takeover), and the ones published in the Turkish newspapers Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, and Milliyet (after the 12 September 1980 takeover). It shows that important similarities existed between Greek and Turkish officers’ approach to the media in their countries during their respective periods of rule. In addition, Greek and Turkish columnists shared both similarities and differences in their framings and interpretations of the military’s takeover in their countries and the subsequent interregna. This study argues that these similarities and differences can be better understood by examining the development of journalistic profession in Greece and Turkey, as well as by analyzing the development of civil-military relations and the role and position of the military in politics in both countries since their establishments as nation-states.
Open Access
The state elites and secularism with special reference to the military : the case of the 1980 military intervention
(2002) Yılmaz, Mehmet
The study aims to analyze the policies and attitudes of the military leaders of the 1980 Intervention towards religion. The state elites in the Ottoman-Turkish history have been the principal agents behind the secularization reforms and the maintenance of the established secularity tradition since the adoption of the modernization reforms in the nineteenth century, which initiated a process of social and political changes that culminated in the establishment of the Turkish Republic. Yet, the affirmative approach of the military leaders of the 1980 Intervention denotes a notable break from the previous tradition. The military leaders of the 1980 accentuated that religion was one of the indispensable components of national culture, and promoted it in cultural area through various policies and practices. This study tries to comprehend the implications of this change for the established secularity tradition in Turkey.