How will Turkey's military use its restored standing?
Does the collapse of the coup attempt case enhance Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power, or is it the resumption of the cycle that governed civilian and military relations during the last decades?
One of the most dramatic judicial processes that had significant bearing on politics and the fate of Turkey is finally over. It took nine years and 275 people imprisoned, among them a former chief of staff, top brass of the once powerful military of Turkey and renowned public servants. They have all been acquitted.
The guilty verdicts that were announced three years ago were hailed at the time as the final defeat of the Turkish military. The verdicts transformed the military into an organization that became subservient to democratic civilian rule.
It is ironic now looking at the current headlines of the staunchly pro-government media outlets and comparing them with the headlines three years ago. It truly reflects the shifting sands of Turkish politics.
The mouthpieces of the Justice and Development Party government and pro-Erdogan media once saluted the guilty verdicts and high penalties — mostly against military personnel in uniform or retired high-ranking officers — as the triumph of popular will over the military tutelage that had taken the country captive.
