Erdoğan’s engineering in the Turkish Armed Forces: de-secularization and creeping Islamization trends
2023; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 24; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/21567689.2023.2287581
ISSN2156-7689
Autores Tópico(s)Middle East Politics and Society
ResumoABSTRACTDuring the AKP rule the military was deprived of its traditional dominant positions and levers in the social and political domains. Being deprived of its institutional autonomy, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) went through transformations, in which the institutional identity and value system of the military were scrutinized. The article aims to reveal the transformation trends of the TAF’s identity and to represent the narratives and manifestations of ‘creeping Islamization’ in the military, particularly after the failed coup of 2016. The article argues that the process of de-secularization and transformation of the institutional identity of TAF has been intensified because of the deprivation of its autonomy in the political system. AcknowledgmentsI would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. V. Ter-Matevosyan, Dr. M. Soghomonyan, Dr. A. Tonoyan, Dr. E. Davtyan, and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions on the initial versions of this article.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Z. Sarigil, ‘The Turkish Military: Principal or Agent?’, Armed Forces & Society, 40:1 (2014), p. 170.2 Ü. Cizre, ‘Egemen Ideoloji ve Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri: kavramsal ve ilişkisel bir analiz’ in A. Insel and A. Bayramoglu (eds) Bir Zümre, Bir Parti, Türkiye’de Ordu (Istanbul: Birikim yayınları, 2013), s. 135.3 I. Yilmaz, Creating the Desired Citizen: Ideology, State and Islam in Turkey (Cambridge University Press 2021), p. 50.4 Steven A. Cook, Ruling but not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press 2007), pp. 127–131.5 P. Kubicek, ‘Faulty Assumptions about Democratization in Turkey’, Middle East Critique, 29:3 (2020), p. 251.6 B.B. Özpek and N.T. Yaşar, ‘Populism and Foreign Policy in Turkey Under the AKP Rule’, Turkish Studies, 19:2 (2018), p. 203.7 The phenomenon of ‘creeping Islamization’ is widely discussed in academic literature, which depicts the manifestations and narratives of ‘creeping Islamization’ in various countries (Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, etc.). Generalizing existing approaches in the academic literature ‘creeping Islamization’ can be defined as a process of gradually inculcating and legitimizing Islamic beliefs and concepts in society and state institutions within the process of de-secularization and in the name of pluralism. See J.C. Liow, ‘Malaysia’s Creeping Islamization and Dimming Prospects for Covenantal Pluralism’, The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 19:2 (2021); Stephen P. Cohen, ‘Pakistan: Arrival and Departure’, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/thefutureofpakistan_chapter.pdf; J. Vuorelma, Narrative Traditions in International Relations, The Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022).8 Given that we discuss the role of political Islam, the terms ‘Islamization’ and ‘politicization’ are used interchangeably in this article. In other words, the term ‘politicization’ in this context primarily refers to the hegemonization of political Islam and political control. See I. Akça, ‘The Restructuring of Civil-Military Relations During the AKP Period’, Confluences Méditerranée, 107 (2018), p. 70.9 Yilmaz, op. cit., p. 160, 200.10 M. Somer, ‘Conquering Versus Democratizing the State: Political Islamists and Fourth Wave Democratization in Turkey and Tunisia’, Democratization, 24:6 (2017), pp. 1035–1036.11 Ü.C. Sakallioğlu, ‘The Anatomy of the Turkish Military’s Political Autonomy’, Comparative Politics, 29:2 (1997); M. Aknur, ‘Civil-Military Relations During the AK Party Era. Major Developments and Challenges’, Insight Turkey, 15:4 (2013).12 Sakallioğlu, op. cit., p. 152.13 L. Haugom, ‘The Turkish Armed Forces and Civil-military Relations in Turkey after the 15 July 2016 Coup Attempt’, Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies, 2:1 (2019), p. 3.14 Z. Sarıgil, ‘Civil-Military Relations Beyond Dichotomy’, Turkish Studies, 12:2 (2011), pp. 265–278.15 M. Aknur, ‘Civil-Military Relations During the AK Party Era. Major Developments and Challenges’, Insight Turkey, 15:4 (2013), p. 145.16 M. Gurcan, ‘A Snapshot of the Blackbox: A 2015 Survey of the Turkish Officer Corps’, Turkish Studies, 19:1 (2018).17 M. Gurcan, ‘Turkish Military’s Tradition of Secularism Facing Tough Test’, Al-Monitor, 4 September 2018, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/09/turkey-military-facing-tough-secularism-test.html.18 L. Ozen, ‘Civil-Military Relations Before and After the 15 July Coup Attempt in Turkey: Two Dimensions’, https://mapleinstitute.org/civil-military-relations-before-and-after-the-15-july-coup-attempt-in-turkey-two-dimensions/19 B. Esen, ‘Praetorian Army in Action: A Critical Assessment of Civil-Military Relations in Turkey’, Armed Forces & Society, 47:1 (2021), p. 216.20 Akça, op. cit., p. 70.21 S. Kouri, ‘Finnish Military Officer Identities and Micro-Political Resistance’, Armed Forces & Society, 49:1 (2023), p. 163.22 H. Tombuş, B. Aygenç, ‘(Post-)Kemalist Secularism in Turkey’, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 19:1 (2017), p. 73.23 Sarigil, ‘The Turkish Military’, p. 185.24 The ‘Turkish-Islamic Synthesis’ (TIS) is a doctrine of mixing Sunni Islam and Turkish nationalism adopted and implemented by the military and maintained by the center-right Motherland Party (Anavatan) rule during the 1980s. As a social unifying tool, it was aimed at reaching social coherence through a mixture of main identity markers, Islam and Turkish nationalism after the September 12 coup d’etat. See more B. Eligür, The Turkish-Islamic Synthesis and the Islamist Social Movement. The Mobilization of Political Islam in Turkey (New-York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 85–135.25 Tombuş, Aygenç, op. cit., p. 74.26 Eligür, op. cit., p. 95.27 J. White, Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2013), p. 4.28 B. Başkan and Ö. Taşpınar, The Nation or the Ummah: Islamism and Turkish Foreign Policy (State University of New York Press, 2021), p. 31.29 Yilmaz, op. cit., p. 49.30 T. Eldem, ‘Democratic Control and Military Effectiveness of the Turkish Armed Forces’ in A. Croissant and D. Kuehn (eds) Reforming Civil-Military Relations in New Democracies: Democratic Control and Military Effectiveness in Comparative Perspectives (Springer International Publishing AG, 2017), p. 176.31 V. Ter-Matevosyan, ‘Religion in Turkey in the 1980s: The Essence of the ‘Turkish-Islamic Synthesis’, The Countries and Peoples of the Near and Middle East, 26 (2007), p. 205.32 A. Feroz, ‘Military and Politics in Turkey’ in C. Kerslake, K. Oktem, and Ph. Robins (eds) Turkey’s Engagement with Modernity: Conflict and Change in the Twentieth Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p. 105.33 Cook, op. cit., p. 114.34 Yilmaz, op. cit., p. 52.35 A. Erdi Öztürk, ‘An Alternative Reading of Religion and Authoritarianism: The New Logic Between Religion and State in the AKP’s New Turkey’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 19:1 (2019), pp. 86–87.36 H. Yavuz, Toward an Islamic Enlightenment: The Gulen Movement (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 39.37 Yavuz, Ibid.38 Cook, op. cit., p. 107.39 K. Caliskan, ‘Explaining the End of Military Tutelary Regime and the July 15 Coup Attempt in Turkey’, Journal of Cultural Economy, 10:1 (2017), p. 98.40 Akça, op. cit., p. 60.41 Esen, op. cit., p. 216.42 A. Erdi Öztürk, ‘An Alternative Reading of Religion and Authoritarianism: The New Logic Between Religion and State in the AKP’s New Turkey’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 19:1 (2019), p. 88.43 On March 1, 2003, Turkey’s parliament rejected a proposal to base 60.000 U.S. troops on Turkish soil during a war with Iraq, which caused confusion and deterioration in bilateral relations with the USA. See ‘Turkey Rejects U.S. Troop Proposal’, CNN, 2 March 2003.44 Z. Baran, ‘Turkish Bravado Versus American Bullying: A Clash of Civilizations?’ The National Interest, 12 March 2003, https://nationalinterest.org/article/turkish-bravado-versus-american-bullying-a-clash-of-civilizations-2271.45 ‘Turkey’s army defends secularism’, Guardian, 27 August 2007.46 ‘2007 Memorandum: Türkiye’s 1st Resistance Against Military Tutelage’, Daily Sabah, 26 April 2023, https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2007-memorandum-turkiyes-1st-resistance-against-military-tutelage/news.47 Sarigil, ‘The Turkish Military’, p. 181.48 M. Somer, ‘Conquering Versus Democratizing the State: Political Islamists and Fourth Wave Democratization in Turkey and Tunisia’, Democratization, 24:6 (2017), p. 1035.49 M. Ali Birand, ‘Asker rahatsız ancak çaresiz … ’, Hürriyet, 1 Eylül 2007.50 H. Taş, ‘A History of Turkey’s AKP-Gülen Conflict’, Mediterranean Politics, 23:3 (2018), p. 4.51 M. Sezal and İ. Sezal, ‘Dark Taints on the Looking Glass: Whither “New Turkey”?’, Turkish Studies, 19:2 (2017), p. 9.52 S.J. Flanagan, M. Kirchner, and F.S. Larrabee, Turkey at a Crossroads. Turkey’s Nationalist Course: Implications for the U.S.-Turkish Strategic Partnership and the U.S. Army (RAND, 2020), pp. 11–12.53 W. Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy Since 1774 (3rd ed.) (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013), p. 143.54 Tombuş and Aygenç, op. cit., p. 80.55 See more İ․ Aytürk, ‘Post-Post-Kemalizm: Yeni Bir Paradigmayı Beklerken’ in İlker Aytürk and Berk Esen (eds) Post-Post-Kemalizm: Türkiye Çalışmalarında Yeni Arayışlar (Istanbul: Iletişim, 2022).56 H. Taş, ‘The 15 July Abortive Coup and Post-Truth Politics in Turkey’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 18:1 (2018), p. 13.57 Yilmaz, op. cit., p. 175.58 See more N. Christofis, ‘The AKP’s “Yeni Türkiye”: Challenging the Kemalist Narrative?’, Mediterranean Quarterly, 29:3 (2018).59 Caliskan, op. cit., p. 98.60 B. Bilgehan Özpek and N. Tanriverdi Yaşar, ‘Populism and Foreign Policy in Turkey Under the AKP Rule’, Turkish Studies, 19:2 (2018), p. 203.61 G. Kümmel, ‘Military Identity and Identity within the Military’ in G. Caforio and M. Nuciari (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of the Military, Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research (Springer International Publishing AG, 2018), pp. 481–482.62 Yilmaz, op. cit., p. 47.63 Z. Citak, ‘The Transformation of the State-Religion Relationship Under the AKP: The Case of the Diyanet’ in P. Bedirhanoğlu, Ç. Dölek, F. Hülagü and Ö. Kaygusuz (eds) Turkey’s New State in the Making: Transformations in Legality, Economy and Coercion (London: Zed Books, 2020), pp. 179–180.64 A.Erdi Öztürk and B. Baser, ‘The Transnational Politics of Religion: Turkey’s Diyanet, Islamic Communities and Beyond’, Turkish Studies, 23:5 (2022), p. 706.65 Yilmaz, op. cit., p. 97.66 A. Erdi Öztürk, ‘Turkey’s Diyanet Under AKP Rule: From Protector to Imposer of State Ideology?’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 16: 4 (2016), p. 628.67 ‘Diyanet’in bütçesi artmaya devam ediyor’ [Diyanet’s Budget Continues to Grow], https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2019/ekonomi/milli-savunma-bakanliginin-butcesi-yuzde-16-arttirildi-5385103/.68 On the instrumentalization of Diyanet in foreign policy see A. Erdi Öztürk and Semiha Sözeri, ‘Diyanet as a Turkish Foreign Policy Tool: Evidence from the Netherlands and Bulgaria’, Politics and Religion, 11:3 (2018), pp. 624–648.69 N. Mutluler, ‘Diyanet’s Role in Building the ’Yeni (New) Milli’ in the AKP Era’, European Journal of Turkish Studies, 27 (2018), https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/pdf/5953.70 H. Yavuz and A. Öztürk, ‘Turkish Secularism and Islam Under the Reign of Erdoğan’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 19:1 (2019), p. 6.71 M. Akan, ‘A Confiscated Trajectory of Secularism: Revisiting the Critical Case of Turkey’, Politics, Religion & Ideology, 24:2 (2023), pp. 242–266.72 ‘Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan, Deniz Harp Okulu Camii’nin açılışını yaptı’ [President Erdoğan Inaugurated the Naval Academy Mosque], https://www.trthaber.com/foto-galeri/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-deniz-harp-okulu-camiinin-acilisini-yapti/49906/sayfa-1.html; ‘Diyanet İşleri Başkanı Erbaş, subay ve astsubayların mezuniyet töreninde dua etti’ [President of Religious Affairs Erbaş Prayed at the Graduation Ceremony of Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers], https://www.ensonhaber.com/gundem/diyanet-isleri-baskani-erbas-subay-ve-astsubaylarin-mezuniyet-toreninde-dua-etti73 K. Alpay, ‘TSK’dan Tasfiye Edilecekler Listesi’ [List of Persons to be Liquidated from TAF], http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/yazarlar/kenan-alpay/tskdan-tasfiye-edilecekler-listesi-15988.html.74 P. Tremblay, ‘Desperate Times Bring out Erdogan in Camouflage’, https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/11/turkey-desperate-times-brings-out-erdogan-in-camouflage.html.75 A. Shankar, ‘Is Turkey Following Pakistan’s Descent into Islamization?’, The Diplomat, http://thediplomat.com/2016/08/91269/.76 ‘Eski ABD büyükelçisi: Türk ordusu seküler olmalı’ [Former USA Ambassador: Turkish Army Must Be Secular], http://www.haber7.com/guncel/haber/2237098-eski-abd-buyukelcisi-turk-ordusu-sekuler-olmali.77 P.K. Upadhyay, ‘Radicalization of Pakistan Army’, Journal of Defence Studies, 5:4 (2011), p. 30; see also See more J. Roach, ‘The Growth of Islamism in the Pakistan Army’, Small Wars Journal, 30 January 2013, http://www.smallwarsjournal.com/printpdf/13739.78 Upadhyay, op. cit., pp. 30–31.79 Upadhyay, op. cit.80 B. Bekdil, ‘Jihadis are Becoming Turkey’s Permanent Proxy Force’, BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1982, 31 March 2021, https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/jihadis-are-becoming-turkeys-permanent-proxy-force.81 ‘Orduda irticai faaliyetler: Artık eksik bir endişe!’ [Reactionary Activities in the Army: No Longer a Worry!], https://www.birgun.net/makale/orduda-irticai-faaliyetler-artik-eksik-bir-endise-339193.82 Yilmaz, op. cit., p. 166, 252.83 ‘AK Parti Genel Sekreteri Şahin: Bütün İslam ümmetinin son ordusu Türk ordusudur’ [AK Party General Secretary Şahin: The Last Army of the Entire Islamic Umma is the Turkish Army], https://aa.com.tr/tr/politika/ak-parti-genel-sekreteri-sahin-butun-islam-ummetinin-son-ordusu-turk-ordusudur/1066170; ‘Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan: Herkes Türkiye’nin kararlılığını gördü’ [President Erdoğan: Everyone Saw Turkey’s Determination], https://www.trthaber.com/haber/gundem/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-herkes-turkiyenin-kararliligini-gordu-512756.html.84 ‘Emekli amirallerden Montrö ve sarıklı amiral bildirisi’ [Statement on Montreux and Turbaned Admiral from Retired Admirals], https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2021/gunun-icinden/emekli-generallerden-montro-ve-sarikli-amiral-bildirisi-6352482.85 Ibid.86 ‘104 emekli amiralin ‘darbe’ bildirisinde çarpıcı detay: Bu bir muhtıradır!’ [Striking Detail in the ‘Coup’ Statement of 104 Retired Admirals: This is a Coup Memorandum], https://www.sabah.com.tr/gundem/2021/04/04/son-dakika-103-amiralin-darbe-bildirisinde-carpici-detay-bu-bir-muhtiradir.87 ‘Montrö Bildirisiyle Yeniden Gündeme Gelen ‘Cübbeli ve Sarıklı Amiral’ Hakkında Neler Biliniyor?’ [What is Known About ‘Admiral in Robe and Turban’, Who Came to the Agenda Again with the Montreux Statement], https://onedio.com/haber/montro-bildirisiyle-yeniden-gundeme-gelen-cubbeli-ve-sarikli-amiral-hakkinda-neler-biliniyor-974659?ref=slider4.88 Esen, op. cit., p. 216–217.89 ‘TSK’da cemaatle namaz kılma yasağı kalktı’ [Ban on Praying in Congregation Lifted in Turkish Armed Forces], http://www.memurlar.net/haber/501790/.90 ‘Emin Çölaşan askerlerin namaz kılışından rahatsız oldu’ [Emin Çölaşan Disturbed by the Prayers of the Soldiers], http://www.aktuel.com.tr/medya/2016/09/14/emin-colasan-askerlerin-namaz-kilisindan-rahatsiz-oldu.91 ‘Org. Hulusi Akar’dan kışlalara Cuma namazı talimatı’ [Friday Prayer Orders from General Hulusi Akar to the Barracks], http://www.karar.com/gundem-haberleri/org-hulusi-akardan-kislalara-cuma-namazi-talimati-68637#.92 ‘Erdoğan, Hakan Fidan ve Hulusi Akar umre yaptı’ [Erdogan, Hakan Fidan and Hulusi Akar performed Umrah], http://odatv.com/erdogan-hakan-fidan-ve-hulusi-akar-umre-yapti-1602171200.html.93 ‘Nereden nereye? İşte özlenen manzara’ [From Where to Where? Here is the Missed View], https://www.milatgazetesi.com/haber/nereden-nereye-iste-ozlenen-manzara-105909/.94 ‘Hulusi Akar ve Hakan Fidan’dan Nuri Pakdil’e ev ziyareti’ [From Hulusi Akar and Hakan Fidan Home Visit to Nuri Pakdil], http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2017/gundem/hulusi-akar-ve-hakan-fidandan-nuri-pakdile-ev-ziyareti-1650341/.95 ‘Hulusi Akar’a yeni görev mi’ [A New Duty for Hulusi Akar?], http://odatv.com/hulusi-akara-yeni-gorev-mi-1302171200.html.96 ‘Hulusi Akar Necip Fazıl’ın yanından çıktı’ [Hulusi Akar Appeared with Necip Fazıl], https://odatv.com/hulusi-akar-necip-fazilin-yanindan-cikti-2904171200.html.97 ‘Özgür Özel: Hulusi Akarı kazıyınca altından ‘Siyasal İslamcı’ çıktı’ [Scraping Hulusi Akar, He Came Out as ‘Political Islamist’], https://www.abcgazetesi.com/politika/ozgur-ozel-hulusi-akari-kaziyinca-altindan-siyasal-islamci-cikti/haber-117883.98 Rukavishnikov, Pugh, op. cit., 125–127.99 E. Aydinli, ‘A Paradigmatic Shift for the Turkish Generals and an End to the Coup Era in Turkey’, The Middle East Journal, 63:4 (2009), p. 586.100 See L. Hovsepyan, ‘Diminishing Institutional Autonomy of the Turkish Armed Forces: Is Politicization and Transformation of its Institutional Identity On the Way’, Contemporary Eurasia, 8:1 (2019).101 Yilmaz, op. cit., p. 85.102 H. Yavuz and R. Koc, ‘The Gulen Movement vs. Erdoğan: The Failed Coup’ in H. Yavuz and B. Balcı (eds) Turkey’s July 15th Coup: What Happened and Why (The University of Utah Press, 2018), p. 79.103 White, op. cit., p. 33.104 H. Yavuz, ‘Social and Intelectual Origins of Neo-Ottomanism: Searching for a Post-National Vision’, Die Welt des Islams, 56 (2016), p. 457.105 Cook, op. cit., p. 4.106 White, op. cit., p. 61.107 H. Arik, ‘Secular Risk Governance and the Turkish Military’s Battle with political Islam, 1980s–2000s’, Security Dialogue, 49:4 (2018), pp. 307–310.108 ‘Bir daha asla 17 yıl sonra 28 Şubat’, Rakamlarla 28 Şubat Raporu, Egitim-Bir-Sen, Ankara (2014), s. 12.109 S. Gülener and S.H. Öztürk, ‘Itiraflarda FETÖ’nün devlete sızması’ [FETO’s Infiltration Into the State in Confessions] (Askeriye, Mülkiye, Adliye), SETA yayınları, (Istanbul: 1 Baskı, 2018), s. 35.110 ‘TSK’dan 19 yılda bin 657 subay ihraç edildi’ [1,657 Officers were Dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces in 19 Years], Hürriyet, Aralık 05, 2009.111 Ibid.112 Arik, op. cit., p. 309.113 It’s worth noting that following the massive crackdown on Gülenists and purges in the military, particularly after the 2016 coup attempt, somewhat elevated the influence of the so-called neo-nationalist ‘Eurasianists’ in the higher ranks. Post-2013, amidst various challenges in domestic politics, Erdoğan forged an unofficial alliance with these ‘Eurasianists’, ensuring its political stability. The common objective was the strategic vision of an independent and autonomous Turkey detached from the West. However, this alliance was a tactical move by the AKP, and Erdoğan faced no obstacles in reshaping the TAF according to his plans and preferences. See more L. Hovsepyan, ‘The Influence of Turkish Domestic Transformations on Turkish–U.S. Relations: Ideology, Identity, Military’, Comparative Strategy, 41:6 (2022), pp. 563–578.114 A. Bozkurt, ‘Turkish Colonel, Red-Flagged Over Al-Qaida, Promoted and Protected by President Erdogan’, Nordic Monitor, 9 November 2020, https://www.nordicmonitor.com/2020/11/turkish-lt-gen-whose-family-member-linked-o-al-qaeda-promoted-protected-by-president-erdogan/.115 T. Libel, ‘Professional Military Education as an Institution: A Short (Historical) Institutionalist Survey’, Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies, 4:1 (2021), pp. 121–131.116 Libel, op. cit., p. 122.117 ‘Professional socialization tends more to strengthen and better define values acquired in anticipatory socialization that are consonant with the military institution than to inculcate them into the individual ex novo’. See more G. Caforio, ‘Military Officer Education’ in G. Caforio and M. Nuciari (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of the Military, Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research (Springer International Publishing AG, 2018).118 Kouri, op. cit., p. 162.119 Cook, op. cit., p. 121.120 J. Pupcenoks, ‘Democratic Islamization in Pakistan and Turkey: Lessons for the Post-Arab Spring Muslim World’, The Middle East Journal, 66:2 (2012), pp. 283–284.121 B. Yeşilada, ‘The AKP, Religion, and Political Values in Contemporary Turkey: Implications for the Future of Democracy’, Turkish Studies, 24:3–4 (2023), p. 595.122 Christofis, op. cit., p. 29.123 Aknur, op. cit., p. 145.124 T. Demirel, ‘The Turkish Military’s Decision to Intervene: 12 September 1980’, Armed Forces & Society, 29:2 (2003), p. 255.125 Gurcan, A Snapshot of the Blackbox, op. cit., p. 111.126 G. Jenkins, ‘Creeping Shadows: YAŞ, Hulusi Akar and the Spectre of the End of the Erdoğan Era’, The Turkey Analyst, 30 August 2021, https://turkeyanalyst.org/publications/turkey-analyst-articles/item/672-creeping-shadows-ya%C5%9F-hulusi-akar-and-the-spectre-of-the-end-of-the-erdo.127 M. Gurcan, A snapshot of the blackbox, op. cit., pp. 108–109.128 Ibid., p. 109.129 ‘Askeri okullar kapatıldı, Milli Savunma Üniversitesi kuruldu’ [Military Schools Were Closed, the National Defense University was Established], https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/askeri-okullar-kapatildi-milli-savunma-universitesi-kuruldu-40176760.130 ‘Kapatılan Harp Okulları ile ilgili sürpriz gelişme!’ [Surprise Development on the Closed Military Schools], http://www.internethaber.com/kapatilan-harp-okullari-ile-ilgili-surpriz-gelisme-1728028h.htm.131 Turkey’s Nationalist Course: Implications for the U.S.-Turkish Strategic Partnership and the U.S. Army, by S. Flanagan, S. Larrabee, A. Binnendijk etc, (RAND Corporation, 2020), p. 27.132 M. Yetkin, ‘Erdoğan MİT’i neden kendisine bağladı?’ [Why Did Erdogan tie the MIT to Himself?], https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/murat-yetkin/erdogan-miti-neden-kendisine-bagladi-40561888.133 T. Eldem, ‘Democratic Control and Military Effectiveness of the Turkish Armed Forces’ in Aurel Croissant and David Kuehn (eds) Reforming Civil-Military Relations in New Democracies: Democratic Control and Military Effectiveness in Comparative Perspectives (Springer International Publishing AG, 2017), p. 172.134 M. Gurcan, ‘Turkish Military’s Tradition of Secularism Facing Tough Test’, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/09/turkey-military-facing-tough-secularism-test.html.135 ‘Faruk Arslan, Peygamber Ocağına tabur imamı şart’ [Faruk Arslan, A Battalion Imam is a Must for the Prophet’s Hearth], http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/peygamber-ocagina-tabur-imami-sart-500112.html.136 ‘60 yıl sonra ‘Din Subaylığı’ müjdesi’ [60 Years Later Good News on Religion Officers], https://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/60-yil-sonra-din-subayligi-mujdesi-1465167.html.137 ‘Türk Ordusunun Kürsüsünde Arapça Dua’ [Arabic Prayer at the Rostrum of the Turkish Army], https://www.tamgaturk.com/turk-ordusunun-kursusunde-arapca-dua/44464/.138 ‘Can Ataklı 30 Ağustos’un Kur’an okunarak kutlanmasından rahatsız oldu! ‘Olur mu lan böyle bir şey!’ [Can Ataklı was Disturbed by the Fact that August 30 was Celebrated by Reading the Qur’an! ‘Is there Such a Thing!’], https://www.internethaber.com/can-atakli-30-agustosun-kuran-okunarak-kutlanmasindan-rahatsiz-oldu-olur-mu-lan-boyle-bir-sey-2268959h.htm.139 ‘Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan: Ege’de her fırsatta huzursuzluk çıkaranların sadece maşa olduğunu biliyoruz’ DHA, 31 Ağustos 2022 [President Erdoğan: We Know that Those Who Cause Unrest in the Aegean at Every Opportunity are Only Tools], https://www.dha.com.tr/gundem/erdogan-egede-her-firsatta-huzursuzluk-cikaranlarin-sadece-masa-oldugunu-biliyoruz-2123553140 ‘Öztürk: ASTTASAK ve SUTASAK yönergelerinden Atatürk adı tamamen çıkarıldı’ [Öztürk: Atatürk Name was Removed from ASTTASAK ve SUTASAK Instructions], https://www.politikyol.com/ozturk-asttasak-ve-sutasak-yonergelerinden-ataturk-adi-tamamen-cikarildi/.141 Huseyin Hayatsever, ‘Harp okullarına giriş koşullarını belirleyen yönetmeliklerde kritik değişiklik: ‘İrticai faaliyet’ çıkarıldı’, Cumhuriyet, 24 Mart 2021, https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/harp-okullarina-giris-kosullarini-belirleyen-yonetmeliklerde-kritik-degisiklik-irticai-faaliyet-cikarildi-1822750.142 Ibid.143 In 2010 the ‘irtica’ as a domestic security threat was removed from the text of the National Security Policy Document (MGSB).144 SADAT (International Defense Consultancy) is a private pro-AKP military consultancy organization established in 2012 by former TAF brigadier general Adnan Tanriverdi, who is known for its Islamic worldview. See C. Taşpınar, ‘SADAT Başkanı Adnan Tanrıverdi Odatv’ye konuştu: Harp okulları mülakatını 3 yıl SADAT yaptı’, https://www.odatv4.com/guncel/sadat-baskani-adnan-tanriverdi-odatv-ye-konustu-harp-okullari-mulakatini-3-yil-sadat-yapti--218647.145 ‘Milli Savunma Bakanlığından ‘Harp okulları mülakatını 3 yıl SADAT yaptı’ iddiasına yalanlama’ [Denial of the Claim by Ministry of National Defense that ‘SADAT Conducted the Military Academy Interview for 3 Years’], https://www.sabah.com.tr/gundem/2021/10/11/milli-savunma-bakanligindan-harp-okullari-mulakatini-3-yil-sadat-yapti-iddiasina-yalanlama.146 ‘SADAT Başkanı TSK’da neleri değiştirdiklerini açık açık söyledi’ [SADAT Head Clearly Stated What They Changed in the Turkish Armed Forces], https://www.odatv4.com/guncel/sadat-baskani-tsk-da-neleri-degistirdiklerini-acik-acik-soyledi-219322.147 M. Rubin, ‘Has SADAT Become Erdogan’s Revolutionary Guards?’, https://www.aei.org/foreign-and-defense-policy/middle-east/has-sadat-become-erdogans-revolutionary-guards/.148 ‘Tarikat evine giden Tuğamiral Sarı ‘sözleşmeli subay’ olarak başlamış’ [Rear Admiral Sarı, Who Went to the Tarikat House, Started as a ‘Contracted Officer’], https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/tarikat-evine-giden-tugamiral-sari-sozlesmeli-subay-olarak-baslamis-1825057, Tekkedeki amiral ortaya çıktı, https://www.veryansintv.com/tekkedeki-amiral-ortaya-cikti.149 ‘Bakan Fikri Işık: İmam hatipliler de TSK’ye girecek’ [Minister Fikri Işık: Imam Hatip Graduates will also Enter the TAF], http://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/bakan-fikri-isik-imam-hatipliler-de-tsk-ye-girecek-122146.html.150 M. Gurcan, ‘Turkish Military Faces Secularism Test’, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/05/turkey-military-entry-ban-religious-school-graduates.html.151 S. Waldman and E. Caliskan, The New Turkey and its Discontents (New-York: Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 47.152 ‘İmam Hatip Liseliler Dosyası’, 32 Gün, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehEYmsWJ6Zk.153 Ibid.154 Ö. Taşpınar, ‘The Failed Coup and Turkey’s Gulenist Predicament’, https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/the-failed-coup-and-turkeys-gulenist-predicament/.155 M. Gürcan, ‘Never Again! But How? State and the Military in Turkey after July 15’, Istanbul Policy Centre at Sabanci University, April 2017, p. 12, http://ipc.sabanciuniv.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Never-Again_Metin-Gurcan.pdf.156 H. Yavuz, ‘Understanding Turkish Secularism in the 21th Century: A Contextual Roadmap’, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 19:1 (2019), p. 18.157 Esen, op. cit., p. 216.158 ‘Ve turban ordu’ya girdi’ [And Headscarf Entered to Army], https://www.aydinlik.com.tr/turkiye/2017-subat/ve-turban-orduya-girdi.159 ‘TSK’da başörtü yasağı kalktı’ [The Ban on Headscarf Lifted in the TAF], http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2017/gundem/son-dakika-tskda-basortu-yasagi-kalkti-1694055/.160 ‘TSK’da artık türban serbest’ [Headscarf is Already Free in the TAF], http://odatv.com/tskda-artik-turban-serbest-1111161200.html, Turkey allows policewomen to wear headscarves, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/turkey-policewomen-wear-headscarves-160827134711461.html.161 ‘Kara Harp Okulu tarihinin ilk başörtülü subayı: Müberra Öztürk’ [The First Headscarved Officer in the History of the Turkish Military Academy: Müberra Öztürk], https://www.yenisafak.com/gundem/kara-harp-okulu-tarihinin-ilk-basortulu-subayi-muberra-ozturk-3690077.162 ‘Askerimiz başörtülü komutana selam duracak’ [Our Soldiers Will Salute the Headscarved Commander], http://odatv.com/askerimiz-basortulu-komutana-selam-duracak-0203171200.html.163 Berat-Özipek, ‘Gelecek ay darbe olur mu?’ [Will There be a Coup Next Month?], http://serbestiyet.com/yazarlar/berat-ozipek/gelecek-ay-darbe-olur-mu-722331, M. Aykol, ‘Kemalistler de Darbe Yapar Sayın Başbakan’ [Kemalists Also will Make a Coup Dear Prime Minister], http://www.hurfikirler.com/kemalistler-de-darbe-yapar-sayin-basbakan/.164 L. Օflaz, ‘Kemalistler pusuda!’ [Kemalists are in Ambush!], Star, 16 Mart 2017, http://www.star.com.tr/yazar/kemalistler-pusuda-yazi-1197117/.165 ‘Küçük: Başörtüsü Kararından Sonra Bazı Subaylar Darbe Hazırlığı Yaptı’ [Küçük: After the Headscarf Decision, Some Officers Did Coup Preparations], http://www.haberler.com/cem-kucuk-basortusu-ozgurlugunden-sonra-bazi-9325707-haberi/; N. Alçı, ‘Bir askeri hareketliliğin perde arkası’ [Behind the Scenes of a Military Action], http://www.milliyet.com.tr/yazarlar/nagehan-alci/bir-askeri-hareketliligin-perde-arkasi-2405092/.166 ‘TSK’da FETÖ’cüler temizlenince yerlerine onlar geçti!’ [When the FETÖ Members were Cleansed in the TAF, They Took their Place!], http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/tskda-fetoculer-temizlenince-yerlerine-onlar-gecti-284214.html; ‘TSK’da ‘Kemalist kalkışma’ soruşturması’ [‘Kemalist Uprising’ Investigation in the TAF], http://odatv.com/tskda-kemalist-kalkisma-sorusturmasi-1603171200.html.167 ‘Genelkurmay karargahında bir ilk’ [A Principle at the General Staff Headquarters], http://www.milliyet.com.tr/genelkurmay-karargahinda-bir-ilk-siyaset-2104204/.168 ‘İlk kez bir Genelkurmay Başkanı’nın eşi resepsiyonda başörtüsü ile görüntülendi’ [For the First Time the Wife of a Chief of Staff was Seen Wearing a Headscarf at the Reception], http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/814531/ilk_kez_bir_Genelkurmay_Baskani_nin_esi_resepsiyonda_basortusu_ile_goruntulendi.html.169 ‘Danıştay’dan TSK’da başörtüsü kararı! Reddetti’ [Headscarf Decision in the TAF by Danıştay! Denied], https://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/danistaydan-tskda-basortusu-karari-reddetti-559856.html.170 ‘TSK’da başörtüsü serbestisi tartışması! Danıştay yürütmenin durdurulması istemini reddetti’ [The Headscarf Liberalization Debate in the TAF! Danıştay Rejected the Request for a Delay of Implementation], https://www.haberturk.com/tsk-da-basortusu-serbestisi-tartismasi-danistay-yurutmenin-durdurulmasi-istemini-reddetti-2249596.171 Gurcan, ‘Turkish Military’s Tradition’, op. cit.172 W. Robert Pearson, G. Tol, A. Stein, and L. Hintz, ‘Turkey’s Emerging Role in the Middle East’, Middle East Policy, 25:2 (2018), p. 15.173 I. Uzgel, ‘Turkey’s Double Movement: Islamists, Neoliberalism and Foreign Policy’ in P. Bedirhanoğlu, Ç. Dölek, F. Hülagü and Ö. Kaygusuz (eds) Turkey’s New State in the Making: Transformations in Legality, Economy and Coercion (London: Zed Books, 2020), p. 64.174 Somer, op. cit. p. 1038.175 ‘AK Parti Genel Sekreteri Şahin: Bütün İslam ümmetinin son ordusu Türk ordusudur’ [AK Party Secretary- General Şahin: The Last Army of the Entire Islamic Ummah is the Turkish Army], Anadolu, 17 February 2018, https://aa.com.tr/tr/politika/ak-parti-genel-sekreteri-sahin-butun-islam-ummetinin-son-ordusu-turk-ordusudur/1066170, See also M. Kutlay and Z. Öniş, ‘Turkish Foreign Policy in a Post-Western Order: Strategic Autonomy or New Forms of Dependence?’, International Affairs, 97:4 (2021), p. 1092.176 On the international dimension of secularism see P. Bilgin, ‘The Securityness of Secularism? The Case of Turkey’, Security Dialogue, 39։6 (2008), pp. 594–614.Additional informationNotes on contributorsLevon HovsepyanLevon Hovsepyan is a leading researcher and Head of the Turkish Studies Department at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. He is an Associate Professor at the Chair of Political Sciences at the Faculty of International Relations, Yerevan State University. His articles on Turkish foreign policy, defense and security issues have been published in journals such as ‘Comparative Strategy’, ‘China Report’, ‘Contemporary Eurasia’, ‘Central Asia and the Caucasus’, etc. Research and teaching interests are Turkish foreign policy, domestic transformations, security and defense strategies.
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