An analysis of Turkey's recent political history reveals its military’s interventions in civilian politics are prompted by any of three major developments: domestic political crises, security threats from neighboring counties and military struggles with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). All these key elements prevail today, encouraging a flurry of news and comments in local and foreign media that the mood in Turkey is exactly what the military wants.
For example, journalist and academic Halil Karaveli believes that the crisis environment in the country has returned the military to politics, and that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which has put an end to the solution process with the Kurds, has submitted to the armed services. Karaveli is a senior fellow with the Turkey Initiative at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center and managing editor of its publication, The Turkey Analyst. He thinks that the military now controls the AKP.
According to Sezin Oney, also a journalist and academic, there is a growing symbiotic relationship between AKP decision-makers and the military. Oney says a supra-political AKP-military coalition is being shaped. Their common enemy is the Kurds' politics, and its slogan is “Powerful state, powerful nation and powerful army.”
Is the military truly returning as the leading actor in domestic politics, or is there an AKP-military coalition in the making?
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