Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ANKARA5610
2006-09-26 11:43:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

TURKEY'S LAND FORCES COMMANDER REASSERTS RIGHT OF

Tags:  PREL PGOV MARR TU 
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FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
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INFO RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//JSJ3// PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//USDP:PDUSDP/ISA:EUR/ISA:NESA/DSCA// PRIORITY
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/425ABS IZMIR TU//CC// PRIORITY
RHMFISS/39ABG INCIRLIK AB TU PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005610 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2026
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S LAND FORCES COMMANDER REASSERTS RIGHT OF
THE MILITARY TO DEFEND SECULARISM


Classified By: DCM Nancy McEldowney, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005610

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2026
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S LAND FORCES COMMANDER REASSERTS RIGHT OF
THE MILITARY TO DEFEND SECULARISM


Classified By: DCM Nancy McEldowney, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) In a September 25, 2006 speech to incoming Land Forces
cadets, Commander of the Turkish Land Forces Command General
Ilker Basbug warned of a growing Islamist threat to Turkey
and defended the right of the military to speak out on issues
that threaten the unitary and secular nature of the
nation-state. Saying that "the reactionary (Islamist) threat
is reaching alarming proportions," Basbug reminded his
audience of the military's past history in protecting
Ataturk's secular republic and asserted the right of the
armed forces to "continue to take sides in protecting the
nation-state, the unitary state and the secular state."


2. (C) Press reports have suggested the statement represents
a shift to a sharper, more assertive, rhetoric, but this is
not a new assertion for Basbug. During the August 26
Change-of-Command ceremony, when he left his command of the
First Army in Istanbul to succeed the current CHOD GEN
Buyukanit as the Land Forces Commander and become the second
highest-ranking military official, Basbug made the same
assertion. In his acceptance speech, Basbug had sought to
educate his audience on the important transformation the
country made away from a religious state when the Republic
was first born and said that the Turkish Armed Forces "have
always been involved in preserving the nation-state, the
unitary state, and the secular state, and will continue to do
so." Expressing views on these subjects -- and sharing them
with the public -- is a duty of the military, he said. In
January 2005, while Deputy CHOD, Basbug gave a televised
speech in which he stated that "as long as the fundamentalist
and separatist movements continue to exist, it will always be
the priority concern of the Turkish Armed Forces to combat
them."


3. (C) Basbug's speech comes a month ahead of the EU's next
progress report on Turkey, expected on November 8, and
follows on the heels of criticism by European Commission head
Hans Jorg Kretschmer. During a September 24 visit to Ankara,
Kretschmer criticized the military's penchant for expressing
its views "on almost every aspect of public life," including
education and religion, and asserted that the biggest
challenge for Turkey would be to "create stable institutions
able to deliver services, including security, to the citizens
of the country in a way that respects democratic principles."


4. (C) COMMENT: Basbug's speech contained elements that he
and other military officials have said previously on numerous
occasions. The timing of the speech, however, could suggest
that the military is taking advantage of the growing anti-EU
sentiment to reassert its historic role as protector of the
secular state at a time when the government is seeking to
increase its profile within the Muslim world and the PKK
terrorist group has significantly stepped up attacks,
heightening the public's sense of insecurity. Those with
whom we've spoken in academic and NGO circles argue that the
military views its role solely in the context of ensuring the
security of the Turkish state, but that its definition of
what constitutes a security issue is very broad. END COMMENT.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON