How Will the Turkish Military React?

Since the 1990s, the Turkish military have emerged as a force defending Turkey’s secular democracy in the political realm. How will they react towards the upsurge in Islamic influence and the other issues facing the country? The Turkish military began to Westernise in the late 18th century and became a strictly secular institution under Atatürk in the early 20th century. The military are Turkey’s most Westernised institution and a bastion of secularism. What is more, they consistently rank as the most popular and widely respected institution in Turkey. Since the 1990s, the Turkish military have emerged as a force defending Turkey’s secular democracy in the political realm. What explains the military’s behaviour? Given the recent rumblings in Turkey over its presidential, and upcoming parliamentary elections –the Justice and Development Party (AKP), with an Islamist pedigree and currently in government, is at the centre of the controversy– a review of the Turkish military’s commitment to secularism will help reveal how it might react in the near future to a number of important issues

Turkish foreign policy under the AKP : the rift with Washington

edited by Soner Cagaptay [u.a.

Regenerating the U.S.-Turkey partnership

by J. Scott Carpenter and Soner Cagapta

Dark taints on the looking glass: Whither ‘New Turkey’?

The results of the 2002 general election in Turkey came as a powerful shock to multifarious circles both within and outside the country. There were deep concerns that the ‘moderate’ Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party (AKP) might try to dismantle the very bases of the secular state. Fifteen years of AKP rule have displayed four distinctively different periods: (1) Normalization and reinstitution of civil governance (2002–2007); (2) Methodological transition (2007–2009); (3) Consolidation of power-base (2009–2011); and (4) De-secularization, de-democratization, re-securitization and shift to authoritarianism (2011–2016). Drawing upon the ‘competitive authoritarianism’ literature and the concept of ‘instrumentalization of democracy,’ this article will elaborate the above points as well as the intrinsic Islamist mindset of the AKP. Use of foreign policy as an instrument of legitimation of Islamist policies and anti-secular transformation will also be examined