The fading myth of the military

The investigation into Ergenekon is approaching a critical juncture..

There is now a much stronger likelihood that the role of four-star generals who were on active duty at that time will face legal scrutiny and will eventually be included in the already swollen indictment..

In two separate interviews with .... two retired top commanders said they were ready to testify to the court "if called for." ... I will go [and speak] as a witness or defendant, it does not matter."

These words, coming from two figures who kept a remarkable silence about what really went on during those months, particularly the words from Özkök, who I see as the "key witness," mark a groundbreaking "invitation" to prosecutors to get in touch with them.

...the true significance of the ongoing trial and new waves of arrests: the role of the military outside its "jurisdiction" and its self-declared right to intervene in civilian politics.

...for the first time in history, for holding the "almighty" and "untouchable" Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) accountable. It will hopefully lead to self criticism on the part of the military and a redefinition of its role..."

..

If taken further and argued successfully, the Ergenekon trial will bring a tradition and mindset to an end. Up until very recently, the perception of the TSK was, both domestically and internationally, that it was a "special case," "a security valve for the tenets of the republic," "a guardian of stability," "a force that intervenes in politics only when conditions necessitate it," etc.

Developments over the last decade, peaking in the Ergenekon trial (with the arrests of top generals and high-ranking officers with alleged links to bombings and such murders as the "Malatya case"), produced a different picture: Despite the fact that it is well organized, the army has fallen prey to rogue elements within its ranks, adventurers who would not hesitate to take the country into uncharted waters. This certainly has something to do with the fact that it is the only military structure in NATO to have rejected change after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact ended the Cold War.

... It will have to admit the broken myth, since it is has now been widely revealed that it is the military itself that stands as an obstacle to the maturity of democracy in Turkey. 

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/yazarDetay.do?haberno=170100