By Thomas Seibert
Gen Ilker Basbug, desiganted to be Turkey’s chief of staff of the armed forces, faces the difficult task of balancing the military’s determination to keep its political role with the country’s ambitions to comply with European norms demanding civilian control over the armed forces.
Gen Basbug was named chief of general staff last weekend by the High Military Council, which meets twice a year to address personnel issues of the second-largest armed forces in Nato.
In a sign of the continued political power of the military, the government played no role in deciding whom to name as military chief, although Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, was at the council meeting. The president, Abdullah Gul, was expected to approve of the nomination.
“The armed forces decide that for themselves,” said Can Fuat Gurlesel, the head of the Institute for Strategic Studies in Istanbul. Read more ...
Gen Ilker Basbug, desiganted to be Turkey’s chief of staff of the armed forces, faces the difficult task of balancing the military’s determination to keep its political role with the country’s ambitions to comply with European norms demanding civilian control over the armed forces.
Gen Basbug was named chief of general staff last weekend by the High Military Council, which meets twice a year to address personnel issues of the second-largest armed forces in Nato.
In a sign of the continued political power of the military, the government played no role in deciding whom to name as military chief, although Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, was at the council meeting. The president, Abdullah Gul, was expected to approve of the nomination.
“The armed forces decide that for themselves,” said Can Fuat Gurlesel, the head of the Institute for Strategic Studies in Istanbul. Read more ...
Source: The National
Posts
