LONDON — The European Union expects Turkey to continue to reduce the
role of its military.
The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, has criticized Turkey's military. A commission report said Turkey has not significantly
changed the military's huge role in society.
"The armed forces continue to exercise significant political influence,"
the report said.
The report focused on the Turkish Armed Forces Internal Service Law,
which defines the role and duties of the Turkish military, Middle East Newsline reported. The EC said the
law grants the military a wide area of authority.
The EC also said the military, particularly the military-dominated
National Security Council, continues to influence Turkish political life.
The report said this violated a Turkish commitment to reduce the role of the
armed forces.
"Individual military members of the National Security Council as well as
other senior members of the armed forces have continued to regularly express
their opinion on domestic and foreign policy issues via public speeches and
press briefings," the report said.
The report was meant to examine whether Ankara has been fulfilling
conditions for EU membership. The EC was scheduled to examine Turkey's
accession request during a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
Despite the criticism, the report determined that Ankara has
demonstrated progress in meeting EU demands to reduce the role of the
military. But the EC said the political influence of Turkey's military
exceeded that of the armed forces in European member states.
"Statements by the military should only concern military, defense and
security matters and should only be made under the authority of the
government," the report said.
On Nov. 7, EC officials met representatives from Turkey's military and
Defense Ministry for a briefing on the conduct of a transparent procurement
process. Nearly 50 Turkish representatives from all parts of government and
military attended the meeting.
