Posted on 10/12/2002 7:59:38 PM PDT by pkpjamestown
"We are happy with the situation,' says the National Security Council's secretary general Tuncer Kilinc in response to the EU's recently released progress report on Turkey"
A top general rebuffed Friday the European Union criticisms of lack of civilian control over the Turkish military, expressed in a recent report released by the EU Commission.
"We are happy with the situation," said Gen. Tuncer Kilinc, the secretary-general of the National Security Council, an influential body of top civilian and military officials, when asked to comment on the Progress Report of the EU Commission on Turkey, released on Oct. 9.
The EU Commission cited the lack of civilian control over the military as a major shortcoming of Turkey in meeting political membership criteria of the union.
The report said that Turkey had not fully met the criteria for starting membership talks with the EU.
The EU's concerns about the military focus on the National Security Council, an advisory body that brings together top politicians (3) and generals(7?) once a month to discuss the key issues of the day. Though the council is nominally only advisory, its recommendations are rarely challenged.
General Kilinc raised concerns in the EU earlier this year when he said that Turkey had received "not the slightest help" from the EU and suggested Ankara look for support to Russia and Iran besides its traditional ally, the United States.
Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel also defended the role of the military in Turkish political life earlier this week, saying the armed forces had always played a positive role.
"The position of the military in Turkish political and social life stems from historical experience, and the importance of the armed forces in Turkish political and social life cannot be compared with any other armed forces in Europe," Gurel said.
Opinion polls also regularly show the military as the most trusted institution in Turkey, a NATO member.
The usual "blackmail" Game from the Cold War days!
We would probably not have opposed him, had his great plan not included smacking us around. Since in effect both the Saudis and the Turks aspired to build a great Central Asian empire, we could happily have ridden in on either horse.
But if he's going to start knocking down our buildings, well, that puts a different spin on it, doesn't it?
The oddest thing is that now we are there, firmly ensconced, without either of them, by Russian invitation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.