Professionalism in the Turkish military: help or hindrance to civilian control?
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Authors
Wick, Gregory J.
Subjects
Advisors
Ghoreishi, Ahmad
Eyre, Dana P.
Date of Issue
2000-09
Date
September, 2000
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
en_US
Abstract
The Turkish officer corps has developed into a professional body of personnel with a high degree of autonomy. Turkey's participation in NATO and the U.S. military assistance it received over the course of almost fifty years are key contributing factors to the modernization of the force. However, contrary to Samuel P. Huntington's proposition that maximizing military professionalism leads to objective civilian control of the military, the Turkish officer corps is not under civilian control and continues to play a major role in domestic politics. The reason why the military is not under civilian control is that its definition of military professionalism differs from hat normally attributed to Western militaries. The officer corps regards itself as the guardian of the ideology of Kemalism, named after Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Rather than focusing exclusively on national defense, military officers are indoctrinated in and become occupied with the preservation of Kemalism against internal threats such as political Islam and Kurdish separatism.
Type
Thesis
Description
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NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
xii, 105 p.;28 cm.
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.