STRONG ARMY, STRONG TURKEY

 

The slogan dates back to 2009. It was published by the presidency of the general staff on August 30, Turkish Victory Day. When it was published, it quickly drew attention to itself. The whole phrase actually represents the new agenda of the general staff presidency. It is often related to the similar slogan which is' ‘strong Turkey, strong army’. The difference is that a strong army, strong Turkey seem like a militarist approach. In a most simplistic way, it means that as the army gets stronger, so as the nation. That actually worked out for a quite a while on every country who had a strong army. Therefore, once upon a time, even the smallest tribes and communities who had strong army dominated and conquered other lands gained power over the time. So it all started as forming a powerful army and then that army became the foundation and a basis of a strong country. But not anymore. Now in our modern world, the countries who are to be counted as a strong country, needs to have, strong army, solid state structure, progressive science and then a strong army. The existence of a powerful army surely strengthens Turkey. But for whom? Perhaps prior to going outside. By taking this into consideration, it is largely associated with the ideology of Realism. For Realists, a country can best defend itself and assure its national security by equipping itself a large arsenal of weapons, a large army, naval and air forces. But also, neorealists such as Kenneth Waltz believe that the most powerful military is the one that doesn’t need to fire a single shot. However, these are for external threats. Specific to Turkey, the army is not just for external threats. TSK was once seen as the pioneer of development, secularism, democracy, and Kemalist nationalism in domestic affairs. Nevertheless, a year later, in 2010, the parliament changed the context of article 35. The change emphasizes that the army will no longer act as a public watchdog for the government. But from then on, their mission is limited to potential threats that may come from the outside. Therefore, back at that time, the perception of the reason why the army should be strong was not just for the international arena but also to be the public watchdog of the national values I just mentioned. Although the slogan may bring militarism and realism first to mind, it may mean something more than that. due to the fact that TSK was once a pioneer in development. It may also mean that the path that leads to a strong, modern, and civilized Turkey goes through strengthening the army once again. That means the development of Turkey goes through the army. So it’s a parallel growth. However, this slogan was not welcomed by some of the important people, and then, a year later, it transformed into a ‘strong Turkey, strong Army’.

 

STRONG TURKEY, STRONG ARMY :

What are the reasons for calling a country ‘strong country"? What are the parameters of being strong in international areas for a country? What is the importance of the army in Turkish politics? Today we will try to answer these questions. In political science, in the case of realistic politics, the state is the main actor in the international arena, and the army is the most important instrument of the state. In the modern world, especially after the Second World War, countries have tried to create cooperation amongst themselves, and this process was the beginning of the transformation of international relations.

 

In the early years of the Turkish Republic, M.K.A. tried to use the army as an instrument to make social and cultural revolutions permanent. Between 1923 and 1950, the political positions of the army and the government were almost the same. In this process, the power of the state was rising in parallel with the power of its army, especially in Internal Affairs.

 

During the Second World War, it seemed impossible for the Turkish Army to enter a new war, because the army had been the pioneer of the Kemalist Revolutions in the country and had just survived the effects of the destruction caused by the Independence War. It's quite meaningless to claim that Turkey, which has a weak army in the international arena, remained weak and insignificant in international politics after the Second World War. Because as a result of its geopolitics and the right moves of the government, Turkey has become one of the most important actors in the world.

 

As a result, despite having a big army in this process, Turkey protected its power because the institutions and the politicians were the "guide of the military movements".

 

In the 1950s, the government changed for the first time in Turkey. This means that the existing ‘constitutional ideology’ is no longer in power. In this process, the effects of the contrast between "conservative democracy," the ideology of the Adnan Menderes government, and "Kemalism," the founding ideology’were reflected in the Turkish Army. Adnan Menderes’ liquidation of the Kemalist ‘high-ranking soldiers and the fear of counter-revolution caused movement in the army. And this process was over with the 1960 military coup. Another military coup took place in Turkey. In 1980, the reason for the coup was the atmosphere of chaos and the inability of the government to manage the process. With these two coups, we see how important the army actually is for Turkey, but as a result, the army handed over the power to democratic governments in both times.

 

If you look at the results of the coups, we see that the governments are lacking in terms of ideology and an administration. For these reasons, the army's place in Turkish politics has deepened even more, but the strengthening of the army in politics has not made the country stronger. In the country, each cup has taken society and democracy back 30 years.

 

In the 2000s, the Turkish army and the government again clashed, and the army was caught between the Kemalist and conservative cliques. During the Ergenekon process, which resulted in the trial and punishment of many senior and retired soldiers, The Turkish army reacted to this situation on August 13th, 2009, on Victory Day, with the slogan "strong army, strong Turkey".

 

The use of this slogan has received criticism from politicians and ministers because the Turkish Armed Forces are an organ that drives its power from the people and the state. However, it has been argued that if the political institutions and the Turkish republic get stronger, the army will also get stronger.

 

In the last 15 years, however, we see that the situation is not actually a dilemma. Turkey, which has the fourth largest army in NATO and the 11th largest army in the world, is still a developing country. The strength of the army is, of course, very important in terms of defense, but in today's world, international integration and the economy have become indicators of their power.

 

Countries like the USA, Russia, and China, which have the most powerful armies in the world, are also the world's greatest imperial powers. These countries, which have very large economies, have influence in many parts of the world with their policies that go beyond their borders. The most important factor that makes these countries so powerful is their economy, and the state structures and armies are the organs that protect these powers in the 21st century. In short, only a country with a strong economy and a strong political structure can have a strong army. In fact, the armies of many powers that affect many parts of the world today are not considered strong enough. This is an indication that army power alone is not enough in the changing world.

CONCLUSION

When we consider these two approaches, we see that there is no clear answer. However, we can say that an administration who takes their power from the people and a solid state structure can go further with a strong army.

In short, the states are the ‘brains of the armies, and the armies are the ‘limbs of the states’.

 

 

Oğuzhan DEMİR & Edip Gezgin

Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi, Bölgesel Analiz Topluluğu

Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler