Interesting developments are taking place in Turkey’s civilian-military relations since the election of Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the president in August 2014, when the new Justice and Development Party (AKP) government also revealed its "Vision for a New Turkey." Erdogan, according to the constitution, is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, a label the pro-government media likes to throw around these days. There is an abundance of references to the New Turkey's powerful army, national state and strong defense industry. Also attracting attention is the sudden ubiquity of news and commentary, particularly in the pro-government media, on how the military and the government operate in full harmony in dealing with the "parallel state" of the Fethullah Gulen movement, the solution process with the Kurds, the Syrian and Iraqi crises and other regional issues.

What led to this political-military understanding in Turkey? Did the government move closer to the military, or vice versa? Frequently cited reasons for this developing alliance include:

• growing security concerns over the Ukraine and Syria crises;
• the status of the Turkish soldiers at the Tomb of Suleiman Shah in Syria;
• the need to work together in domestic and external politics after the parliamentary approval of cross-border operations;
• the AKP’s need to harness "hard" military power;
• the military’s efforts to conclude the legal process against alleged coup plans without further conflict and clashes; and,
• the AKP’s emphasis on developing the national defense industry and the military’s plans for modernization.

However, I want to focus on two profound domestic political issues that I think led to this military-civilian alliance. The first is the extreme fragility of the Kurdish solution process following the violent protests over Kobani and the security shortcomings, especially in southeast Turkey.

The Kobani incidents, which appeared to be an organic reaction not fully organized by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), quickly spread through the entire country and shocked the Turkish state by showing that adrenaline-fueled PKK youth have the ability to paralyze not only streets and towns but also the approaching general elections. The murders of three unarmed soldiers on leave in civilian clothes in Yuksekova and a noncommissioned officer also unarmed and in civilian clothes, all of whom were killed in Diyarbakir, rattled the government and the military.