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The National Security Council ( tr, Milli Güvenlik Kurulu, MGK) is the principal government agency used by the President of Turkey (who is the Commander-in-chief) for consideration of
national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military att ...
,
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, and
foreign policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...
matters with senior national security officials, and for coordinating these policies among various government agencies. Like the
national security council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...
s of other countries, the MGK develops the national security policy. The policy is expressed in the National Security Policy Document ( tr, ), commonly known as "The Red Book". The Red Book is sometimes called the "most secret" document in Turkey. It is updated once or twice a decade.


History

The creation of the MGK was an outcome of the 1960 military coup, and has been a part of the constitution since 1961. In this way the 1961 constitution created what the Turkish scholar Sakallioğlu labels "a double headed political system: the civilian council of ministers coexisted with the national security council on the executive level, and the military system of justice continued to operate independently alongside the civilian justice system." The role of the MGK was further strengthened with the 1982 constitution, adopted by the military junta in the aftermath of the 1980 military coup, before transferring power to civilian politicians. From then on its recommendations would be given priority consideration by the council of ministers. Furthermore, the number and weight of senior military commanders in MGK increased at the expense of its civilian members.Sakallioglu, Cizre
The Anatomy of the Turkish Military's Autonomy
''Comparative Politics'', vol. 29, no. 2, 1997, pp. 157-158.
In 1992 then chief of general staff Gen. Doğan Güreş proclaimed self-confidently that "Turkey is a military state".


The role of the military in Turkish politics

The MGK is widely perceived as the institutionalisation of the Turkish military's influence over politics. Since
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
founded the modern secular republic of Turkey in 1923, the Turkish military has perceived itself as guardian of
Kemalism Kemalism ( tr, Kemalizm, also archaically ''Kamâlizm''), also known as Atatürkism ( tr, Atatürkçülük, Atatürkçü düşünce), or The Six Arrows ( tr, Altı Ok), is the founding official ideology of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurche ...
, the official state ideology, even though Atatürk himself insisted separating the military from politics. Though the attitude of the military may have remained constant, the attitude of the successive civilian governments toward the military has fluctuated, according to Metin Heper: "In Turkey, for a long time, there have been two notable behavioral patterns on the part of civilian governments in their relations with the military: they have either tried to relegate the military to the sidelines or they have granted it too much autonomy." When the civilian government was successful in solving economic problems and internal disputes and "had the upper hand," sometimes as in the 1950s, the civilian government "tried to divest the military of all authority" and the government and military officers became "hostile adversaries." As a result of these fluctuations in the relationship, there have been two direct coups d’états in
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...
and
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...
, the 1971 coup by memorandum, and what later has been labelled a " post modern coup", when Prime Minister
Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was later ban ...
from the pro-Islamic
Welfare Party The Welfare Party ( tr, Refah Partisi, RP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey. It was founded by Ali Türkmen, Ahmet Tekdal, and Necmettin Erbakan in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, National Order Party (MNP) and National ...
stepped down after mounting pressure from the military in 1997. Paradoxically, the military has both been an important force in Turkey's continuous Westernization but at the same time also represents an obstacle for Turkey's desire to join the EU. At the same time, the military enjoys a high degree of popular legitimacy, with continuous opinion polls suggesting that the military is the state institution that the Turkish people trust the most.


Recent reforms

In order to meet EU's political demands for starting membership negotiations, the Copenhagen criteria, Turkey has passed a number of reforms aiming at strengthening
civilian control over the military Civilian control of the military is a doctrine in military and political science that places ultimate responsibility for a country's strategic decision-making in the hands of the civilian political leadership, rather than professional military ...
. These reforms have mainly focused on the MGK, its duties, functioning and composition. On 23 July 2003 the
Turkish Grand National Assembly The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Const ...
passed the "seventh reform package", which aimed at limiting the role of the military, through reforms of the MGK. According to an editorial in the ''Financial Times'' the seventh reform package constitutes nothing less than a "quiet revolution". Firstly it is underlined that the MGK is a consultative body, now with a civilian majority. The 7th reform package made it possible to appoint a civilian Secretary General of the MGK, which happened for the first time in August 2004. The council has not anymore expanded executive and monitoring authorities, and has for instance not any more the authority on behalf of the president and the prime minister to follow up on the implementation of the MGK's ‘recommendations’. In addition, the MGK no longer has unlimited access to all civil institutions. The MGK no longer has a representative in the Supervision Board of Cinema, Video and Music. It was however still represented in civil institutions such as the High Board for Radio and TV (
RTÜK Radio and Television Supreme Council ( tr, Radyo ve Televizyon Üst Kurulu), also known in short as RTÜK, is the Turkish state agency for monitoring, regulating, and sanctioning radio and television broadcasts. RTÜK was founded in 1994 and is ...
) and the Commission for Higher Education (YÖK), but after critics in the 2003
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
report this representation was withdrawn from both institutions in 2004. Despite the impressive institutional changes, the 2004 European Commission report concludes that "Although the process of aligning civil-military relations with EU practice is underway, the Armed Forces in Turkey continue to exercise influence through a series of informal channels." In the Commission report of the following year it was stated that: "Reforms concerning civil-military relations have continued, but the armed forces still exert significant influence by issuing public statements on political developments and government policies."European Commission
Turkey 2005 Progress Report
, Brussels, 9 November 2005, p. 41.
Before the reforms, the MGK covertly influenced public opinion through its Public Relations Command ( tr, Toplumla İlişkiler Başkanlığı). The department has been disbanded.


Council members


List of Secretaries General


See also

* Supreme Military Council *
National security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military att ...
* Committee to Coordinate the Struggle with the Baseless Genocide Claims


References


Further reading

* Kars Kaynar, Ayşegül. "Making of military tutelage in Turkey: the National Security Council in the 1961 and 1982 Constitutions." ''Turkish Studies'' 19.3 (2018): 451–481. * Kars Kaynar, Ayşegül. "Political Activism of the National Security Council in Turkey After the Reforms." ''Armed Forces & Society'' 43.3 (2017): 523–544.


External links


Official Web site


{{Authority control Military of Turkey
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
Turkish governmental institutions Turkish intelligence agencies