By Alex Barker in Ankara
The often tense relationship between Turkey’s politicians and its generals might have entered a more cordial era with the appointment of a military commander with an ear for Beethoven and a pragmatic political streak.
General Ilker Basbug will head Turkey’s armed forces for two years, putting his mark on a powerful political institution that jealously guards the secular republic’s founding principles, intervening four times in 50 years to oust elected leaders.
His approach to the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Islamist-rooted government, and the forces of change sweeping the country and military will be critical to shaping Turkey’s future.
Gen Basbug’s outlook is hardline and typical of a Turkish general. But his first gesture as commander was a surprise. By forgoing the annual purge of officers accused of indiscipline or Islamic practice, he assuaged the AKP.
One opposition politician, a traditional ally of the -military, was upset enough to chide the “warm” relations and speculate about underhand deals (which were angrily denied).
The incident highlighted a more fundamental change. For some months, the generals and the government have had a tacit agreement.
Strains remain, particularly over the place of Islam in public life. But on other military priorities – fighting Kurdish separatists, Cyprus, and the effective immunity for generals from oversight – there are signs of accord.
The generals, in turn, were conspicuously silent over the divisive legal bid to shut down the ruling AKP, which it narrowly survived last week. Cengiz Aktar, an academic and commentator, sums it up as “concessions for co-existence”.
Observers in Ankara consider Gen Basbug’s temperament to be well suited to both sustaining this working relationship and sternly policing its conditions.
The general fits the Turkish military mould. He reveres Mustafa Kemal Ata– t-ürk, the military founder of modern Turkey. His outlook is assertive, dogmatic and deeply suspicious of change. He is steeped in the westernised culture of the Turkish officer corps, with stints at Nato and Sandhurst. He listens to classical music, watches US movies and has no time for religion.
Yet his style is expected to be different. Ümit Cizre, a professor and army observer, calls him “a hardliner with a difference”, a well-read and more cerebral commander. Gen Basbug has given, for instance, unusually reflective speeches on terrorism.
His low-key approach contrasts with Yasar Buyukanit, his predecessor, who struggled to resist impromptu pronouncements on anything from headscarves to football. Gen Buyukanit frequently clashed with the AKP, but mostly lost.
Gen Basbug is expected to be shrewder and politically more effective.
His rise to the top carefully navigated the military’s more reform-minded and hawkish camps without fully committing to either, highlighting his pragmatic streak. “He is regarded in the military as a safe pair of hands,” said Gareth Jenkins, a security analyst based in Istanbul. “He has earned a reputation for being very calm and giving measured, well thought out responses.”
His relations with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, face three main tests. First Cyprus, where peace talks could explore terms that breach the general’s red lines, and second, an investigation into a ultra-nationalist “plot” to oust the government. The third, and potentially most sensitive, is constitutional reform.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
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