04.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

National Security Council (MGK) or (NSC) ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31987],  [ID 14409]

"[...]5.18 As noted in USSD 2004 “The military exercises indirect influence over government policy and actions in the belief that it is the constitutional protector of the State…The Constitution prohibits the Government from issuing orders or recommendations concerning the exercise of judicial power; however, the Government and the National Security Council (NSC), an advisory body to the Government composed of civilian government leaders and senior military officers, periodically issued announcements or directives about threats to the State, which could be interpreted as general directions to the judiciary. “[5c] (Introduction & Section 1e)
5.19 Europa Regional Survey 2005 records that on three occasions - 1960, 1971 and 1980 - Turkish military leaders have intervened to uphold the principles on which the Constitution is based, and to preserve internal law and order. [1d] (p1155-1157, p1160) (See also Section 4 on The National Security Council’s (MGK)'s actions in 1997)
5.20 According to the Turkish Daily News on 10 December 2003 the Turkish “Parliament’s General Assembly approved a proposal that lifts the secrecy requirements in National Security Council (MGK) regulations, appointments and personnel. The proposal rescinds Article 16 of the MGK Law, which says that MGK appointments cannot be published in the official gazette, as well as certain words in article 17.” [23i]
5.21 The European Commission Regular Report on Turkey’s progress towards Accession 2004, published 6 October 2004, noted that “Since 1999, civilian control of the military has been strengthened. The constitutional and legal framework has been amended to clarify the position of the armed forces versus the civilian authorities. A number of changes have been introduced over the last year [2003-2004] to strengthen civilian control of the military with a view to aligning it with practice in EU member States.” [71c] (p21)
5.22 The EC report 2004 continued “As regards the duties, functioning and composition of the National Security Council, a Regulation was adopted in January 2004 implementing previous legislative changes of July 2003…. In August 2004, a senior diplomat was appointed as the first civilian Secretary General of the NSC by the President upon the proposal of the Prime Minister in accordance with the changes introduced in July 2003.” [71c] (p22)
5.23 However, the EC report 2004 also stated that “The armed forces in Turkey continue to exercise influence through a series of informal mechanisms. On various occasions, military members of the NSC expressed their opinion on political, social and foreign policy matters in public speeches, briefings or statements to the media and declarations.” [71c] (p23) [...]"

Document(s): Open document

04.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

The National Security Council’s (MGK) actions 1997 ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31987],  [ID 14410]

"[...]4.4 The Europa Regional Surveys 2005 records that in the context of persistent rumours of an imminent military coup, the National Security Council (MGK) produced on 28 February 1997 a list of action points, which on the 5 March 1997 were reluctantly agreed by Prime Minister Erbakan, under intense pressure. The measures were designed to maintain Turkey's secularist state and western orientation. In June 1997 Erbakan resigned. The President invited Mesut Yilmaz, leader of the main opposition ANAP (Motherland Party), to form a government. [1d] (p1166) (See paras 5.18-5.23 for more information on the MGK)
4.5 Europa continued “On the 16 January 1998 the Constitutional Court issued a judgement banning the RP [Refah Party] on the grounds that it had a ‘hidden’ fundamentalist agenda and had conspired against the secular order. In addition, former Prime Minister Erbakan and six other RP officials were banned from holding political office for five years.” [1d] (p1167)
4.6 Europa also reported that following corruption allegations against Prime Minister Yilmaz’s coalition the Grand National Assembly approved a motion of ‘no confidence’ in the government, which subsequently resigned. Protracted political manoeuvring resulted in the formation, in January 1999, of an interim administration headed by Bulent Ecevit, comprising members of the DSP and independents. [1d] (p1168)
4.7 Europa further reported that in January 1999 a motion was filed for the dissolution of HADEP (a pro-Kurdish political party), owing to its alleged links with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party); however in March 1999 the Constitutional Court ruled that HADEP was to be allowed to contest the 1999 elections. [1d] (p1168) (See Section 6B on Pro-Kurdish political parties) [...]"

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06.10.2004 - Source: European Commission

Abrogation of far-reaching executive powers of the Secretariat of the National Security Council ("Regular Report 2004 on Turkey´s progress towards accession") [#26161],  [ID 14411]

"As regards the duties, functioning and composition of the National Security Council, a Regulation was adopted in January 2004 implementing previous legislative changes of July 2003. The new Regulation abrogates the far-reaching executive powers of the Secretariat of the National Security Council to follow up, on behalf of the President and the Prime Minister, any recommendation made by this body. In particular, the regulation implements the provision which abrogated the following: “the Ministries, public institutions and organizations and private legal persons shall submit regularly, or when requested, non-classified and classified information and documents needed by the Secretariat General of the NSC”. Under the abovementioned Regulation, the office of the Secretariat General of the NSC is transformed into a body serving the purely consultative function of the NSC. Its role is now limited to the definition of the agenda. The Secretariat is no longer able to conduct national security investigations on its own initiative. It no longer manages directly the special funds allocated to it which are now under the exclusive control of the prime minister. Further changes concern the internal restructuring of the NSC, with a substantial staff reduction and the abolition of some units. In August 2004, a senior diplomat was appointed as the first civilian Secretary General of the NSC by the President upon the proposal of the Prime Minister in accordance with the changes introduced in July 2003. Under the new Regulation, the frequency of the NSC meetings has been reduced to once every two months, except when it is convened on the request of the Prime Minister or directly by the President. Over the last period, this rule has been respected. Legislation that came into force in December abolished the secret status of decrees governing the activities of the NSC General Secretariat."

Document(s): Open document

21.06.2003 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Wichtige Regierungsgeschäfte werden im Nationalen Sicherheitsrat abgewickelt; das dort stark vertretene Militär spielt weiterhin eine negative Rolle ("Zur aktuellen Situation - Juni 2003 ") [#14557],  [ID 14412]

"Wie wir bereits in früheren Publikationen erwähnt haben, werden die wichtigen Regierungs-geschäfte im Nationalen Sicherheitsrat abgewickelt. Die dort vertretene Armee spielt weiterhin eine negative Rolle und ist ein wichtiger Hemmschuh für die notwendigen EU-Anpassungen. Obwohl die Armeepräsenz im Nationalen Sicherheitsrat von sieben auf fünf Perso-nen abgebaut und die Anzahl der zivilen Vertreter erhöht und ihr Einfluss durch den bera-tenden Charakter des Sicherheitsrates eingeschränkt wurde, setzt die Armee ihren Willen in diesem Gremium nach wie vor durch. Der Premierminister kann keine wichtigen innen- und aussenpolitische Geschäfte realisieren, wenn er nicht über die vorherige Zustimmung der Armee verfügt.
Obwohl der Inhalt der Sitzungen des Sicherheitsrates nie an die Öffentlichkeit gelangt, sind sich Türkei-KennerInnen einig, dass die Armeevertreter die AKP anlässlich der monatlichen Sitzungen immer wieder "zurückgepfiffen" haben und dass ihr ein klarer politischer Rahmen gesetzt wurde. Sensible innen- und aussenpolitische Dossiers, wie die Lösung der Zypern- und der Kurdenfrage oder das Kopftuchverbot an den Universitäten und im öffentlichen Dienst, sind deshalb weitgehend blockiert. Auch die Haltung der Türkei im Zusammenhang mit dem Irak-Krieg wurde massgeblich dadurch beeinflusst. Die sich daraus ergebende wi-dersprüchliche Haltung der AKP-Regierung stellt ihre interne und internationale Glaubwür-digkeit nicht unwesentlich in Frage, und bereits heute verhehlt ein Teil der AKP-WählerInnenschaft ihren Unmut nicht.
In der zweiten Maihälfte sind weitere Spannungen zwischen der AKP-Regierung und der Armeespitze öffentlich geworden. Einige Zeitungen begannen, von Militärputsch zu spre-chen. Allerdings wurde der Vorwurf laut, dass diese Gerüchte von der pro-kemalistischen Presse lanciert würden. Anlässlich einer Presseorientierung vom 26. Mai 2003, zu der die Armeespitze eingeladen hatte – und von der sämtliche der Regierung nahestehenden Me-dien ausgeschlossen waren –, hat Chefgeneral Hilmi Özkok zu erkennen gegeben, dass die Armeespitze darüber beunruhigt sei, dass zunehmend wichtige Stellen innerhalb der Büro-kratie durch religiöse Radikale besetzt würden, dass sich die Armee mit dieser Politik kei-neswegs einverstanden erklären könne, die Armee jedoch keinen allgemeinen Unmut emp-finde. In gewissen Zeitungen wurden Vergleiche mit der Regierung Erbakan gezogen. Erba-kan ist bekanntlich von der Armeespitze auf sanfte Weise zur Demission gezwungen wor-den, weil die Armee mit seinem Kurs nicht mehr einverstanden war. In Anbetracht der Ge-schichte ist sich die AKP-Regierung ihres geringen Handlungsspielraums bewusst und weiss, dass sie dem Unmut der Armeespitze Rechnung tragen muss"

Document(s): Open document

09.10.2002 - Source: European Commission

European Commission: The constitutional amendment introducing changes to the composition and the role of the National Security Council has been put in practice ("2002 Regular Report on Turkey's Process Towards Accession") [#10217],  [ID 14413]

"The constitutional amendment introducing changes to the composition and the role of the National Security Council has been put in practice. A draft law aimed at implementing this amendment is still pending before the Parliament. The number of civilians has increased from 5 to 9 compared with 5 military members. The National Security Council (NSC) is formally an advisory body. In practice its opinions carry more weight than mere recommendations and its military members are particularly influential. The National Security Council holds monthly meetings. After each meeting conclusions are made public through a press release. The NSC has issued opinions and recommendations on a number of governmental issues and policies, including emergency rule in the Southeast, the fight against terrorism, political and economic reforms relating to Turkey's compliance with the EU accession criteria, and Cyprus.
On 30 May 2002, the National Security Council recommended lifting the state of emergency in the provinces of Hakkari and Tunceli on 30 July. At the same time it recommended an extension of the state of emergency for Diyarbakir and Şirnak while indicating that the state of emergency in those provinces should be lifted by the end of the year. On various occasions throughout the year, military members of the National Security Council expressed their opinions about political, social and foreign policy matters in public speeches, statements to the media and declarations. They also played an active role in the debate about reforms to comply with the EU political criteria. They have been particularly active on issues such as cultural rights, education and broadcasting in languages other than Turkish.
The role of the NSC in the High Audio Visual Board has been strengthened as a result of the law on broadcasting (RTÜK), which was re-adopted by Parliament following a veto by the President and is currently pending before the Constitutional Court.
The Armed Forces enjoy a substantial degree of autonomy in establishing the defence budget. Details of the military budget have been made public via the press. There are still two extra-budgetary funds available to the military in spite of the efforts of the Government to close such funds and make such expenditure subject to normal budgetary procedures. The NSC has continued to be an important factor in domestic politics. The introduction of a civilian majority of members and the limitation to an advisory role, in line with the Accession Partnership priority, do not appear to have changed the way the NSC operates in practice. Although decisions are taken by majority, opinions of its military members continue to carry great weight."

Document(s): Open document