CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS IN TURKEY: ANALYSIS OF CIVILIAN LEADERS MügeAknur Department of Political Science McGiII University Montreal February,2005 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy in Political Science ©Müge Aknur, 2005 1+1 Library and Bibliothèque et Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 0-494-12793-7 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 0-494-12793-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell th es es le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. •• • Canada • Abstract This dissertation seeks to contribute to our understanding of the role played by civilian leaders in the consolidation of democracy examining changes in levels of military influence over politics. This study departs from typical military-centric civil-military relations literature by employing a civilian-centric analysis. In particular, it shows how the former's focus on changing levels of internaI threat cannot account for variations in the levels of civilian control over the military. The study instead adopts a framework that focuses on the incentive structure of civilian leaders as determined by competitive elections; the political capacity of leaders as reflected in their parliamentary majority, political experience and the effectiveness of their economic policies; and institutional rules, such as the system of government and organization of the parties. The thesis argues • that, depending on their incentive structure and political capacity, the civilian leaders will either challenge a politically powerful military or ally with that military by adopting its preference structures. The relevance of this model for understanding civil-military relations in the aftermath of a transition to democracy is explored in the Turkish case by examining the shift from low to high levels of military influence between late 1980s and mid-1990s. The thesis identifies this shift by looking at the incentive structure and the political capacity of two civilian leaders: Prime MinisteriPresident Turgut Ozal and Prime Minister Tansu Çiller. • ii • Résumé Dans cette thèse, nous cherchons à mieux comprendre le rôle joué par certains dirigeants civils dans la consolidation d'une démocratie en examinant les changements d'influence de l'armée sur leurs politiques. Pour ce faire, on effectue une analyse civils centrée. Ceci nous distingue notamment des ouvrages usuels utilisant une approche plutôt basée sur des analyses militaires-centrée ou militaires-civils. En particulier, notre analyse nous permet d'affirmer qu'il n'existe pas de lien direct entre le contrôle des dirigeants civils sur l'armée et de la menace interne que peut parfois poser cette dernière. Notre étude se concentre plus spécifiquement sur les incitatifs déterminés par les dirigeants civils lors de la tenue d'élection serrée; la capacité des dirigeants politiques selon leur majorité parlementaire, l'expérience politique et le succès de leur politique économique; • ainsi que les règles institutionnelles telles que le fonctionnement du gouvernement et l'organisation des partis. Notre travail tend à démontrer que dépendamment des structures incitatives présentes et leur capacité politique, les dirigeants civils vont ou bien défier un pouvoir militaire politique puissant ou bien s'allier aux militaires en adoptant une structure qui leur convient. La pertinence de ce modèle dans la compréhension des relations civils-militaires durant la période de transition vers une démocratie est explorée dans le cas de la Turquie où l'on peut examiner divers degrés d'influence de l'armée sur la période allant de la fin des années 80 jusqu'au milieu des années 90. Plus particulièrement, on étudie les mesures incitatives et la capacité politique de deux dirigeants politiques turques: le Premier Ministre/Président Turgut Ozal et le Premier Ministre Tansu Çi11er. • III • Acknowledgements 1 am deeply grateful to many people and institutions that have supported me in so many ways over the years, enabling me ultimately to complete this dissertation. First and foremost, 1 would like to extend my special thanks to my advisor Prof. Philip Oxhorn for guiding me throughout my dissertation. He meticulously read my chapters and provided me with insightful suggestions. 1 was fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful friends throughout my years as a Ph.D. candidate. 1 would first like to extend my sincere thanks to my dearest friends Saime Ozçürümez and Tolga BOlükbasi, who were with me throughout the good times and the difficult times at McGill University. Life in Montreal was much more enjoyable • with their warm friendship and support. They provided me with great advice and scholarly feedback at every step of my proposaI writing stage. 1 would also like to thank to my good, old friends Ersel Aydinli and Julie Mathews with whom 1 started my graduate life in Washington D.C. and fini shed that life in Montreal. They offered me valuable suggestions throughout my writing stage. Zeynep Kadirbeyoglu has always proven to be a reliable friend. She followed up on aIl of my bureaucratic business in Montreal during the period 1 was in Turkey. During my fieldwork, Canan and Sait Akman accommodated me in Ankara. 1 thank them aIl. 1 was able to complete part of my doctoral studies with the Turkish Higher Education Council's fellowship awarded to me by Dokuz Eylül University of Izmir, Turkey. 1 wish to thank to Professors Mete Oktav, Omür Ozmen and Mustafa Tanyeri of • Dokuz Ey1ü1 University for their support and for trusting me to finish my Ph.D. 1 would IV • like to extend my sincere thanks to my good friends Townsend and Valerie Burden for their very generous financial help during difficult times. 1 owe a very special debt of gratitude to Prof. Théresè Marie Dougherty for acting as my "mom" throughout my graduate life in North America. 1 wish to extend my thanks to the interviewees who made time in their bus y schedules to answer my questions and shared their valuable experience and insights on Turkish politics. At the Interlibrary Loan of McLennan Library, Janice Simpkins, Maria de Souza and Elizabeth Dunkley were very helpful in aUowing me to access Turkish books from libraries across North America. During my fieldwork in Turkey, my unc1e, CelaI Yilmaz, and my aunt, Hayal Turgut provided me with the necessary connections to reach politicians and retired generals for interviews. Ayse Asker from the Research • Department of the Library of the Turkish Grand National Assembly assisted with my research. Berna Yilmaz from Bilkent University helped with the archivaI research, and Jeff Cuvilier from Mc Gill University helped with the editing of the dissertation. 1 thank them aU. 1 would also like to thank my cousins ilknur Cankes for her emotional, Gürcan Yilmaz for his technical, Gülben Seber for her bureaucratic support who made my writing stage easier. Life at McGill University, with its long gray co Id winters was made much more satisfying and memorable thanks to the support 1 received from a group of marvelous friends. For that, 1 am thankful to Ozge Akçali, Gülhan Alpargu, Alain Bourget, Burkan îsgor, Asya EI-Meehy, Manal Jamal and Efe Postalci. FinaUy, 1 would like to dedicate this work to my mother Didar Yilmaz, for her • love, encouragement, and unceasing support . v • Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................. .i Résumé ................................................................................................ .ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ...................................................................................... v Abbreviations ........................................................................................... viii Introduction ....... " ............. " ............ '" ..................................................... 1 Civil-Military Relations and the Role of the Civilian Leaders: The Turkish Case ............. 3 Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . .. . ............................................................................... 7 Structure of the Thesis ................................................................................. 9 Chapter 1: Civil-Military Relations and the Role of the Civilian Leaders ............................... 12 • Introduction: Civil-Military Relation from the perspective of civilian leaders ................ 12 I. Civil-Military Relations ............................................................................. 13 1. Issues and Actors ................................................................................ 13 2. 'Military Centric' Analysis in Civil-Military Literature of 1950's, 1960's and 1970's ... 16 3. Continuation of the 'Military Centric' Analyses in Civil-Military Literature in 1980's and 1990's .......................................................................................... 23 II. Civil-Military Relations Literature in Turkey ................................................... 27 III. Framework of Analysis .......................................................................... 32 1. Incentive Structure of the Civilian Leaders and the Rational Choices they make ...... 33 2. Institutional Context and Institutionalism as a Theoretical Approach ................... 36 3. Political Capacity of a Civilian Leader. ...................................................... 39 Conclusion: .............................................................................................. 42 Chapter 2: Historical Overview of the Role of the Military in Turkish Politics ....................... 44 Introduction: ........................................................................................... 44 • 1. The Role of the Military in Politics during Ottoman Empire Period .......................... 45 VI • II. The Role of the Military in Politics during the Republican Period .......................... 48 1. Transition to Multi-Party Period .............................................................. 54 2. The 1960 Military Intervention ............................................................... 58 3. The 1971 Military Intervention by Memorandum .......................................... 61 4. The 1980 Military Intervention ......... '" ............ '" ............. " .................... 64 5. Public Legitimacy of the Turkish Military .................................................. 71 6. The Return to Civilian Rule ............. " .............. " ............................. '" .... 73 7. The Erosion of Military's Role in Politics .................................................... 76 Conclusion: ............................................................................................. 78 Chapter 3: The Period of Prime Ministerl President Turgut Ozal and his Confrontations with the Military (1987-1993) ................................................................................. 81 Introduction: ........................................................................................... 81 1. Kurdish Question .................................................................................... 82 Background of the Kurdish Question ............................................................. 83 • II. Prime Minister/President Ozal's Kurdish Policies ............................................. 87 1. Prime MinisterlPresident Ozal's Kurdish Policies during ANAP governments: ....... 87 2. Rational Choices and Political Capacity and Institutional Context ....................... 91 A. Rational Choices and Particularistic Incentives ......................................... 92 B. Political Capacity and Institutional Context ........................................ .. .. 98 a. Parliamentary Majority ................................................................... 97 b. Political Experience ...................................................................... 99 c. Political Performance in Economy ............................................. " .... 102 C. Analysis of Political Capacity through different Issue Areas ........................ 104 a. Lifting of the ban on Kurdish .... , .............................................. " .... 104 b. Official Recognition of the Iraqi Kurdish Leaders ................................. 109 c. Kurdish Refugees from northern Iraq and Operation Pro vide Comfort ......... 113 3. President Ozal's Kurdish Policies during DYP-SHP Coalition Government ........... 117 A. Discussion of "General Amnesty" and the Feasibility of a Federation ............... 121 B. Broadcasting and Education in Kurdish ................................................ 121 C. Peace Through Negotiations and Unilateral Cease-Fire .............................. 122 III. Interference in the Military Promotion Process ........... ............................ .. ... 130 1. The Role ofCivilian Leaders in Military Promotions in Turkey: ...................... 130 2. The Appointment of the Chief of the General Staff in June-July 1987: ............... 132 3. Rational Choice and Political Capacity .................................................... 133 A. Rational Choices ........................................................................... 133 a. The Strict Kemalism of General Oztorun .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . 134 • b. The Pinarcik Incident .................................................................. 136 c. The Year 2000 Plan ................................................................... 137 vii • B. Political Capacity ......................................................................... 139 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 141 Chapter 4: The Period of Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and her Alliance with the Military (1993- 1995) Introduction ........................................................................................... 145 1. Kurdish Problem during Prime Minister Çiller's Period ..................................... 145 1. Prime Minister Çiller's Failure to bring a Political Solution to the Kurdish Problem.148 2. Rational Choice, Political Capacity and Institutional Context.. ......................... 149 A. Rational Choices and Particularistic Incentives ....................................... 151 B. Political Capacity and Institutional Context ........................................... 153 a. Political Experience .................................................................... 153 b. Political Performance in Economics ................................................. 156 c. Existence of a Strong Competitor for Political Control .......................... 158 C. Analysis of Çiller's Attempts to bring Political Solution to the Kurdish Problem159 3. The Signs of the Increase in Military's Control in Politics through Prime Minister Çiller's Hardline Kurdish Policies .......................................................... 167 • A. Village Guards (Koy Koruculari) ...................................................... 170 B. Military's Special Teams ............................................................... 171 C. Village Evacuations .............................................................................. 172 D. Cross-Border Operations ............................................................... 173 E. Rejection of Cease-Fire ProposaIs ...................................................... 176 F. Deterioration of the Relations with the Iraqi Kurdish Factions ..................... 178 G. Postponement of Army Discharges .................................................... 180 H. Imprisonment of pro-Kurdish Democracy Party Deputies ......................... 181 1. State-supported Crime Syndicates ..................................................... 184 II. Extension of the Term of Chief of the General Staff ....................................... 186 Extension of Chief of General Güres' term in August 1993 ................................ 187 Rational Choices ............................................................................. 189 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 190 Conclusions ........................................................................................... 193 Civilian Centric Analysis ............................................................................ 193 The Role of Civilian Leaders in Civil-Military Relations ....................................... 193 Applicability of the Model for Further Study. .. . .. .. . . .. .. . ... ... .. . .. . . .. .. . . .. . .. ..... .. ... ... 194 • Bibliography ........................................................................................... 202 Vlll • Abbreviations ANAP: Anavatan Partisi---Motherland Party AP: Adalet Parisi---Justice Party CHP: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi---Republican People's Party DP: Demokrat Parti---Democratic Party DEP: Demokrasi Partisi---Democracy Party DSP: Demokratik Sol Parti---Democratic Left Party • DYP: Dogru Yol Partisi---True Path Party EU: European Union HEP: Halkin Emek Partisi---People's Labor Party HP: Halkçi Parti---Populist Party MDP: Milliyetci Demokrasi Partisi---Nationalist Democracy Party MGK: Milli Güvenlik Konseyi---National Security Council MHP: Miliyetçi Hareket Partisi---Nationalist Action Party MiT: Milli istihbarat Teskilati--National Intelligence Agency MSP: Milli Selamet Partisi---National Salvation Party PKK: Partiya Karkaran Kürdistan-Kurdish Workers Party SHP: Sosyal Demokrat Halkçi Parti---Social Democratic Populi st Party •