In a new OHAL Executive Order issued following last week’s Supreme Military Council (YAS) meeting, the Turkish government has announced a complete restructuring of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). New measures will effect how the army recruits and trains new soldiers, as well as army-state relationships at the highest level.
The Executive Order closes Turkey’s military high schools and college-level War Academies, instead establishing a “National Defense University” under the government ministry of the same name. All military officers and sub-officers of the TSK will be trained in the new university.
The Executive Order also brings Turkey’s military directly under the National Defense Ministry, ending the relative autonomy the army has enjoyed earlier as a body under the Prime Ministry. It also allows the President and the Prime Minister to give direct orders to all Army Chiefs of Staff.
Under the new measures, Deputy PMs as well as Interior, Exterior, and Justice Ministers will become members of the High Military Council, the annual meeting that decides on all major military-related matters including officer promotions. This latest move is designed to change the balance of power in the Council to favor civilian authorities.
Finally, the move closes military courts, handsover military hospitals to the Ministry of Health, and revokes the law that TSK’s General Chief of Staff must be chosen from amongst the Ground, Air, or Navy Chiefs of Staff.
Prime Minister Yildirim, speaking on Monday, called the changes “the ultimate step in democratization.” He also stated that efforts to professionalize the army are underway. While mandatory conscription is to remain in place, the duration of service will be shortened and conscripts will no longer serve in counter-terrorism operations. While he would not offer details, Yildirim said that measures to restructure the country’s intelligence service are also planned.
The Executive Order also fires a further 1389 individuals from the army and 1196 from the country’s gendarmerie forces.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of Turkey’s main opposition party, was critical of the government’s proceedings in an interview with journalist AhmetHakan. He argued that AKP lawmakers “are excluding all segments of society who stood against the planned coup while restructuring the state.” Complaining that the opposition leaders were not informed of the changes, Kilicdaroglu noted that while his party supports measures to bring the military under firmer civilian regulation, “the reconstruction of the state must take place in the National Assembly. It is unacceptable that a handful of people restructure the state without consulting anyone.”
Under the OHAL emergency state declared after the July 15 military coup attempt, the President and the Cabinet have the po