Gen. Başbuğ's Emphasis on Democracy Versus Media Ban

It's no secret that Turkey has a serious problem internalizing the concept of democracy, and this is the main reason why we have moved slowly in the adoption of European Union criteria that would install democratic standards. The absence of democratic standards hits the media first in any society, thus preventing the exercise of freedom of expression.

Turkey's political authorities do not always tolerate press freedom or the fundamental right of access to information. We witnessed the latest example of this intolerance through Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's harsh stance against the media.

Similarly, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have long used its strong political power in the country, among other things, to exert pressure on media organizations and their members. As the investigation and latest indictment against Ergenekon, a clandestine group accused of preparing the groundwork for an armed attempt to unseat the government, have revealed, some members of media organizations and their owners have allegedly used their influence over society to promote coup attempts.

In addition, numerous documents leaked to the press and not denied by the TSK have proven that the armed forces had prepared several internal memos as part of a smear campaign, categorizing media and nongovernmental organizations as anti- and pro-military. Those categorized as anti-military have sometimes been regarded as traitors simply because those in this category have argued for democratic civilian oversight of the armed forces, as is the case in democracies.

Such a slander campaign is, of course, accompanied by sanctions imposed on those categorized as anti-military. Attempts to discredit them in society while denying them access to information are just two among many examples.

The TSK's treatment of the media in particular has run contrary to democratic standards since, in essence, the role of the armed forces in democracies is strictly defined as defending their countries against possible outside threats and not as making political statements on all internal and external issues. In this sense, the general content of the speech made by Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ on Tuesday at the İstanbul-based War Academies Command was political and ran contrary to the professionalism of militaries.

It is also true that by Turkish standards, where civilian-military relations are problematic, allowing the military to intervene in politics, Gen. Başbuğ's remarks were relatively open minded compared with his predecessors — with the exception of former Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök — when he stressed the virtues of democracy and the supremacy of the rule of law as well as the independence of the judiciary.

Retired Gen. Özkök was an exceptional case in the sense that he proved his sincerity about democratic civilian oversight of the TSK.

But the ongoing ban on some members of the media, denying them access to cover TSK events in violation of the law, has become ironic and paradoxical as Gen. Başbuğ emphasizes democracy, to which the TSK has attached importance.

This time, however, the TSK invited about 196 journalists to the event, easing its restrictions on the media. But some of those who were invited to the event and are known for their criticism of the TSK's role in politics might expect that they would not be invited to upcoming press conferences if they continue their criticism of the military. Thus the TSK's policy of easing accreditation rules on and off largely depends on whether journalists will increasingly be supportive of the TSK in its interventionist policies in politics.

Still, some journalists, including those from the liberal daily Taraf as well as from Zaman, were not invited to last Tuesday's event, highlighting the military's intolerance toward the media's coverage of some events that are basically held for the good of the Turkish military.

The Zaman media group, one of the most highly circulated media organizations in the country, has long been and will continue to be under the scrutiny of the TSK, in particular due to the group's sympathy toward the Fethullah Gülen movement. Without naming the Gülen movement, Gen. Başbuğ reaffirmed the TSK's unease over this "community" last Tuesday over what he claimed to be its targeting of the TSK as well as the secular republic.

Mehmet Altan, a liberal democratic columnist at the Star daily, criticized Gen. Başbuğ during an interview with NTV yesterday for entering into polemics with a community.

As the second Ergenekon indictment has revealed, some religious figures were used by the architects of the Feb. 28, 1997 postmodern coup as part of a slander campaign that aimed to unseat and discredit the Islamic led coalition government at the time. The revelation of such methods used as part of the postmodern coup, on the contrary, has increasingly raised questions about the credibility of the coup architects and whether some communities really have posed a threat to the nation's secular character.

Altan said in his column published by Star yesterday that, on one hand, the TSK sees that there have been changes in the world while, on the other, it does not want to abandon its old habits as well as its current status (power in politics).

Radical changes usually do not come from within the institutions that resist conforming to developments taking place in the world. Therefore, the main responsibility for the resumption of military and civilian reforms has fallen on the shoulders of the Turkish Parliament as well as on political authorities to influence the TSK to change for good.